SAN DIEGO — The special Port of San Diego district does not collect taxes, but boaters in America’s Finest City can’t avoid the taxman as the more than 13,000 boats south of Orange County and north of the Mexico border contributed to a taxable property value of $543.6 billion in 2017.
San Diego County’s Assessor announced the total property levies for 2017 on June 29. The assessment roll for all properties countywide increased by more than five percent, compared to 2016, according to San Diego Assessor Ernest Dronenburg, Jr.
The 2018 Assessment Roll included 13,018 boats, Dronenburg said in a released statement. Also included on the assessment roll were nearly 1 million real estate parcels, 57,973 businesses and 1,510 aircrafts.
The exact amount of tax collected from the 13,018 boats was not immediately available.
A published table of parcel inventory and assessed valuations for the 2017-18 fiscal year shows San Diego County was home to 14,730 recreational properties. It was unclear how many of those were boats.
The assessed value of those 14,730 recreational properties was nearly $2.9 billion.
One of the largest taxpayers in San Diego County is Host Hotels and Restaurants, whose portfolio includes the Marriott Marquis Hotel and Marina (downtown waterfront), Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina (Harbor Island) and Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. Host’s tax liability for fiscal year 2017-18 was $9.19 million.
Also near the top of the highest taxpayers in the county is Poseidon Resources, the company behind Poseidon’s desalination plant in Carlsbad (and planned saltwater-to-freshwater conversion in Huntington Beach). Poseidon’s tax liability for fiscal year 2017-18 was just shy of $6.56 million.
One Park Boulevard LLC, whose Hilton San Diego is adjacent to Fifth Avenue Landing, was ranked 14th-highest taxpayer for the most recent fiscal year; the company’s tax bull was nearly $5.7 million.
SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment ranked 28th on the list of Top 30 taxpayers in San Diego County for the 2017-18 fiscal year; its tax liability $3.96 million, just below Costco Wholesale Corp. ($4.22 million).
San Diego Gas and Electric Co. had the highest tax liability in the county, paying more than $123 million to the assessor’s office. SDG&E’s tax payment was about five times higher than the next highest liability, which was Qualcomm Inc. ($22.77 million).
