[quote style=”2″]City Had Anticipated Losses of $40,000[/quote]
Despite predicting annual losses of at least $40,000, the Umatilla Marina & RV Park ended its first fiscal year with the city of Umatilla in the black.
“The marina actually made money for us,” City Manager Bob Ward said. “We’re going to come into this fiscal year’s budget with the marina actually looking pretty good.”
The Umatilla Marina and RV Park sits on property owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but the Port of Umatilla had leased the site to operate the facilities for decades. Two years ago, on Sept. 11, 2012, the Port of Umatilla Commission voted unanimously to walk away from its 50-year lease seven years early. At the time, Port officials said the facility had ended in the red every year of the lease, sometimes as high as $100,000. The Port gave the Corps a one-year notice of the early termination in order to find a replacement group – public or private – to take over the lease.
When no private entities came forward, the city stepped in to make sure the Corps did not lock the gates. In September 2013, the city of Umatilla became responsible for the management and maintenance of the marina and RV park. The city did not, however, take over the Port’s debt on the property. Under the agreement, the port would continue making its payments on loans taken out to repair and install new boat docks and other improvements. The city purchased equipment and buildings from the Port for a one-time cost of $25,000, hired Cris Inc., as on-site management and set aside $40,000 out of its budget to cover the projected shortfall.
When drafting a detailed update for the Umatilla City Council, however, city staff painted a very different picture from their expectations.
With revenues from fuel sales, RV park rentals and boat moorage, the city has received about $164,500 as of June 30. Under the city’s operation, the marina has cost about $163,000, including maintenance, electricity, insurance, advertising, and other expenses.
As of June 30, the marina showed a net revenue of $1,567 – and Umatilla Finance Officer Melissa Ince expected that trend to continue for the end of the fiscal year.
“It’s still somewhat of a mystery to me that the Marina and RV Park are doing so much better for us than for the Port,” City Manager Bob Ward said. “We have taken out bigger advertisements with ‘Under New Management.’ That can have an impact.”
In addition to the $1,500 profit, the city has received a $7,000 grant from the Oregon State Marine Board’s Maintenance Assistance Program. Those dollars are not included in that profit figure, and Ward said the city has applied for that grant for the next fiscal year.
Ward said the city will continue trying to improve the site financials to keep the trend moving forward. The budgeted $40,000 will go back into the general fund and could be used to set up a marina contingency fund or for other city expenses.
Every department in the City of Umatilla ended the fiscal year with revenues exceeding expenditures.
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