Santa Barbara Slip Assignment Policy Subcommittee to Bring Recommendations to the Harbor Commission

SANTA BARBARA一 A subcommittee that has been looking into Santa Barbara’s slip assignment policy is expected to make a recommendation to the full Harbor Commission at its August meeting. “We may be reaching a good point to kind of take this full topic back to the full Harbor Commission to ensure that we’re on track,” said Mike Wiltshire, Santa Barbara waterfront director, at a July 15 subcommittee meeting. The Santa Barbara Harbor Commission created the Slip Assignment Policy on Sept. 17, 2020, to address policy concerns that had been raised by slip tenants and investigate ways of improving the policy. Concerns included the cost of the slip transfer fee, the inability to add an adult family member to a slip permit without paying a transfer fee, and concerns about paying a county possessory interest tax. The subcommittee met on July 15 and agreed on plans to present findings and recommendations to the full Harbor Commission in August. The transfer fee currently ranges from $200 a foot for slips less than 20 feet to $525 a foot for slips between 35 feet and 100 feet. The waterfront bases the cost of the transfer fee on private market value, with the fee ranging from 5...