Big Return On Boater Taxes & Fees

BoatU.S. was an early and enthusiastic champion of the 1998 federal legislation that created the Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) program, a state-industry-federal partnership that annually returns fuel tax monies paid by recreational boaters back to states and communities where it’s spent on construction of “safe, protected harborage” for transient boats. The objective is to mutually benefit both cruising boaters and the hosting waterfront communities where boat owners will buy goods and services locally while visiting.

Among the approximately 11 million recreational boats registered in the U.S., a little more than a half-million are power- and sailboats that visit different ports, whether on weekend getaways or snowbird flights south. The savvy crews aboard these cruising boats tend to gravitate to ports with ample docking and on-site facilities.

“Cruising boaters seek out welcoming waterfront communities, and these grants help interested towns roll out the welcome mat,” says David Kennedy, manager of our BoatU.S. Government Affairs department. “Word spreads quickly in the cruising community.”

How it works

The BIG program provides funds for tie-up and support facilities for transient vessels greater than 26 feet in length for stays of up to 15 days. Grant funding supports construction, renovation, and maintenance of marinas and other boating facilities for outdoor recreation and waterway access.

Under the program, public and private operators of open-to-the-public boating facilities from all states, commonwealths, territories, and the District of Columbia can submit proposals for two different tiers of funding, each requiring that grantees pay at least 25% of project costs.

Tier 1 provides maximum federal funding of $300,000 per state annually. Each state can submit more than one project proposal and is eligible for more than one annual grant.

Tier 2 funding is nationally competitive and is typically for larger-scale projects with maximum federal funding of $1.5 million per application. As with Tier 1 funding, each project is judged individually on its merits.

Boaters and manufacturers fund the program through excise taxes and duties on boating fuels and certain fishing and boating equipment directed to the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund and administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Since its inception, the program has awarded more than $300 million to projects for transient recreational boats, including the construction of more than 7,000 berths, the addition of amenities such as fuel docks and Wi-Fi access, and benefitting boaters across most U.S. states and territories.

2024 awardees

For 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded more than $21 million in support of projects. The funding is allotted for the collective construction of an estimated 187 new slips and berths as well as 7,768 linear feet (nearly 1.5 miles) of additional side-tie docking space, and amenities such as fuel docks and showers.

Breaking down this year’s grants:

• $4.4 million will fund projects in 18 states, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands under the BIG Tier 1 subprogram.
• $17 million will fund projects in 12 states (nine of which are also receiving Tier 1 grants) under the BIG Tier 2 subprogram.
• States receiving 2024 BIG grants: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

First, a few hurdles

The awarding of grant funding is only one step in the process before a check is in the mail to these local awardees.

“There’s a lot of work to be done even after the grant is awarded,” says Brad Gunn, who reviews the BIG applications for FWS. “In some ways, that’s when the hard work begins.”

Financing deals fall through, properties change ownership, there could be permitting issues, or an owner may balk at the 20-year obligation to provide transient dockage that comes with accepting BIG money.

“This isn’t free money,” he says. “It’s money with strings attached.”

For starters, projects don’t receive grant funding at the time of approval – it’s reimbursed after the sponsor certifies that expenditures have been made. Other eligibility requirements include:

• Facilities should be built on navigable waters available to the public in water deep enough for nontrailerable recreational vessels to navigate.
• Grant recipients must install navigational aids to allow safe passage for transient vessels between the tie-up facility and the channels or open water.

From his experience, Gunn estimates that about 30% of Tier 2 projects awarded grants won’t make it to the finish line. Large marinas in major stopovers and destinations tend to get the bulk of grant money because those big operations are more likely to apply and are better able to leverage additional financing, Gunn says, but some awardees are small facilities located in just the right spot for cruiser traffic.

As an example of the former, Gunn cites Safe Harbor Charleston City Marina in South Carolina. Since opening in 1994, marina managers have applied for and were awarded BIG grants over multiple years that helped fund expansion and upgraded dock and slip space, fueling infrastructure, and added amenities like power and potable water for the transient boating community. Today, the marina features 17,000 feet of linear dock space covering 40 acres of water with a variety of public berthing spaces and amenities, particularly at its Megadock – a 1,500-foot floating concrete dock for transient megayachts, which brings more income to the local community.

For the latter, Gunn points to St. Marys Intracoastal Gateway Marina, near a deep-water inlet with no bridges and easy access from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, in remote St. Marys, Georgia, on the coastal Florida border. The city-managed marina lost many of its facilities in Hurricane Irma in 2017. Even after rebuilding, upwards of 60 boats are anchored in the St. Marys River at any given time because there is no access to shore, the city indicated in its grant application, “And during times of more traffic, there can be upwards of 100 boats looking for dockage as they travel to and from Florida.”

This spring, construction was finished at the project site, and the city of St. Marys has added 600 feet of dockage dedicated to transient boaters. The new dock, rated for a Category 3 hurricane, offers utility pedestals for water and electricity, and the dock offers pumpout services.