Prince William riles boat owners: “I ask in the future you stop and think”

For years, pleasure boat owners have found a safe tax harbor in Prince Willam County.

They’ve docked their boats there, in part, because the personal property tax rate on boats, trailers, and other recreational vehicles has been so low — $0.0001 per $100 of assessed value

On Tuesday, boat owners flooded the Prince William County Government Center on Tuesday after Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler proposed hiking the personal tax to the highest allowable by law — $3.70 per $100 of assessed value.

The tax hike would mean hundreds, if not thousands of dollars more boat owners would need to pay, per year, to own their boats. That’s on top of what they pay put fuel in them during the boating season, and to pay to store them.

County officials say they generate more needed money for the county schools. It’s one of the multiple taxes they’ve proposed to increase next year.

The advertised real estate tax rate of $1.17 per $100 of assessed value the board voted on was 2.5 cents higher than the $1.145 proposed by the County Executive. Every penny added to the proposed $1.145 tax rate raises an additional $6.5 million in county tax revenues. At a rate of $1.145, the average real estate bill would be $4,432 annually, an increase of $242 which would raise the average house payment by about $20 each month. The current real estate tax rate is $1.125.

The board also voted to advertise a $33 motor vehicle licensing fee; the current fee is $24. Additionally, the board advertised a motorcycle licensing fee of $20; the current fee is $12. Those proposed increases would bring in an additional $3.5 million in county revenue.

The proposed budget includes a $.05 increase in business tangible personal property taxes for computer and peripheral equipment, to bring it to $1.30 per $100 of assessed value. The board’s advertised rate for computer and peripheral equipment is $1.35.

The higher taxes had boat owners, and residents driving full-speed ahead working to urge elected leaders to “sink” the boat tax.

“The boating industry is not doing well. Please don’t make me close my doors and let 50 of my friends go to go find a job somewhere else,” said Carlton Phillips, owner of Prince Willam Marina near Occoquan.

“In the last four days I’ve lost two boat deals because of the possible tax,” said William “Bill” Garber, owner of Holly Acres boat and RV shop in Woodbridge.

Supervisors said they received thousands of emails pertaining to the higher boat tax in the days leading up to the meeting. The outcry prompted Wheeler to issue a “directive” to county staff to break out the tax on boats and leave it unchanged, at $0.0001 of assessed value.

Brentsville District Supervisor urged Wheeler to go a step further by also reducing the proposed Real Estate tax rate, leaving it at $1.125 per $100 of assessed value. “This will still generate $54 million more because your (housing) assessments are going up.”

Wheeler declined to take that additional step. While the Board of County Supervisors may choose to adopt lower tax rates as it continues its budget deliberations through the end of April, but it can’t pass rates that are higher than what’s been proposed.

“I ask that in the future, that when you come to a rash decision, you stop and think. Please ask us about the boat business and partner with us,” said Terry Hill, owner of Hampton’s Landing Marina in Woodbridge.

Last year, the Board of County Supervisors under different leadership, on a project spearheaded by then Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank Principi, partnered with Hill and other area marina owners on a $1 million project to dredge the mouth of the county’s Neabsco Creek where it meets the Potomac River. The Coast Guard closed the channel of the Neabsco Creek when it in 2018 deemed the channel too shallow for boats to navigate and subsequently ordered it temporarily closed.

It reopened when the dredging project was completed in June 2019.