Gold buried in budget for yacht clubs
Legislature cuts their rent
Yacht clubs on public land along the Charles and Mystic rivers and Boston Harbor could see their state rent payments slashed by nearly 40 percent thanks to a few lines buried in the state budget that would, in all, save the boat clubs $115,000 a year.
The budget section caps the rent payments for 21 of the 31 yacht and boat clubs on public land managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation to no more than 2 percent more each year than what they paid Jan. 1, 2015 — erasing nearly all of a 60 percent increase in rent the clubs have seen since then.
The Union Boat Club, located steps from the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade, currently pays $12,800 a year in usage fees to the state, according to DCR records. The budget measure would claw that back just higher than the $8,000 a year it paid three years ago.
The private athletic and boating club, which boasts competitive rowing and squash programs, took in $686,339 in member fees and another $30,650 in initiation fees for the year ending June 30, 2017, according to tax filings.
Across the Charles River Basin, the Charles River Yacht Club — which reported $254,746 in member fees in 2016 — would have its annual payment to the state lowered to $10,200 from the $16,000 it owed this year.
The limit on rent payments would affect long-term leases the state has been seeking to enter with the clubs since 2010. Only one, Northeastern University’s boat house, has inked such a long-term deal, and it — along with the nine other educational boat clubs — are exempt from the proposed cap.
The cap on the rent payments could run aground in the courts, former state inspector general Greg Sullivan told the Herald, citing an article in the state constitution that requires the state get fair market value for its assets, including waterfront real estate.
“There’s been a history in Massachusetts of the state government giving away things — to organizations and even to people — for less than fair market value, and that’s a problem because state property belongs to the taxpayers,” said Sullivan, policy director at the Pioneer Institute.
“The land that the boat clubs and the launching ramps are on,” he added, “it belongs to the taxpayers.”
Budget amendments capping the rents passed in the House and Senate versions of the spending plan. The less generous Senate version, which blocks the rents from rising more than 4 percent annually above current levels, was sponsored by Sen. Sal DiDomenico. His office declined to comment. The House version, which limits the rents to 2 percent each year above 2015 levels, is listed as being introduced by House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez “and others.”
Gov. Charlie Baker’s office declined to say whether he supports the rent cap.
The South Boston Yacht Club near City Point hopes the break on rising seaside rents will help it remain a “blue-collar” club, Commodore Einar Myrvang told the Herald.
“We are not doctors and lawyers and bankers,” Myrvang said, explaining that the club’s rent rose from $10,000 in 2015 to $16,000 this year and is heading to $18,000 next year, with an annual 5 percent increase afterward.
“We can’t really absorb this without raising our dues and fees,” Myrvang said. “We are trying to keep the club affordable for bluecollar members.”