Transient Boat Slip Room Tax Explored

The Door County Tourism Zone Commission (DCTZC) is exploring the idea of adding transient boat slips at marinas throughout the county to room tax collections.

The idea came from attorney Bill Vande Castle, who keeps a sailboat at a Door County marina. He began wondering if transient boat slips should be considered for room tax collection because in many instances the boat owner has access to electricity, water, laundry facilities, cable hookups and potentially many other amenities enjoyed by folks booked into hotels and motels.

“It seems to me by looking at the law, I have to conclude the room tax probably does apply to transient slip rentals,” Vande Castle told the commission at its Oct. 16 meeting in Jacksonport.

“I think there is an argument that it would apply,” he said. “It’s not clear in the law. I’ll make that perfectly clear here.”

Bill Weddig, a commission member representing Gibraltar, said an accommodation is very different from a space for an accommodation.

“A campground that has a permanent A-frame in the woods, they are charged the room tax right now because that accommodation exists,” Weddig said. “If a guy sets up 50 tents on his campground and rents them out on a regular basis, they should probably be collecting room tax. But if you bring your own accommodation with you, that’s different.”

Vande Castle said examining the transient boat slip issue will bring up other issues of campers. “How far do you go with this?” he asked. “There’s no answer, no clear definitive, statutory answer on the room tax.”

Asked by commission member Dick Skare if any other areas of the state are doing this, Vande Castle said he has personally heard from a couple of other communities that were exploring the possibility.

Zeke Jackson, administrator of Sister Bay, said a similar conversation had taken place among members of the village’s Marina Committee as a way to raise more revenue to market the marina.

“In effect, it’s this huge marketplace that is completely missed out on,” he said. “We feel that marinas as a whole are under-marketed.

“It would be wonderful if this body would consider some sort of larger tax on marinas to promote marinas in Door County as a destination above and beyond all others in the state of Wisconsin. Let’s lead the way in that charge.”

“I look at my facility as providing accommodations,” said Village of Egg Harbor Administrator Josh Van Lieshout, who also serves as chair of the DCTZC. “Do we go down this path because we have a sense of obligation to collect those taxes? In my opinion, I think we do.”

He suggested that Vande Castle draft a formal legal opinion to be shared with the state attorney general or the Department of Revenue before coming back to the commission.

“I can certainly put together that opinion,” Vande Castle said, but said he would prefer to draft the opinion, present it to the commission, and then send it to the attorney general for an opinion.

“Let’s take this step by step,” he said. “There’s no rush. My boating friends would like you to hold off as long as possible.”

Skare suggested there should also be a cost-benefit analysis to determine if it is even a worthwhile venture.

Myles Dannhausen, Sr., said he was involved in the drafting of the room tax legislation and nothing ever came up about transient boat slips. “So I would vote against this.”

A motion to draft a legal opinion was approved, with three members voting against it, including Dannhausen, Weddig and Elizabeth LeClair.