Prince William Yacht Club

This has been an up and down year for us but my job situation has settled down and in fact I am now with a firm that has a half day Friday policy so we’ll be in a better situation to serve you all. There are numerous issues on the local and national front that CBYCA is watching. The local representative from CBYCA to the National Boater Federation is tracking a move in the US Congress that is progressing quietly through the tax committee. This legislation is seeking to eliminate the mortgage deduction for recreational boats as a second home. Passage of such a measure would cripple the boating industry and CBYCA and the NBF are already on record as strongly opposing the measure. For more information go to http://www.n-b-f.org/ and let them know how you feel (notice the hyphens in the address; they’re correct). Jacqui Knight is the Virginia legislative liaison from CBYCA and she has attended every session of the state legislature watching out for boaters. She recently attended a meeting of The Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) program. This initiative was set up to provide money to marinas to foster upgrades that include the addition of transient boater facilities. This tax money has already been set aside to upgrade marinas that will open their facilities to transients. This is available money for things like dredging to open or widen access to marinas, upgraded pump out facilities, haul in and out ramps, etc. As of this writing, only 22 of the more than 1000 marinas in the Commonwealth have completed the Virginia Clean Marina Program. Being designated as a Virginia Clean Marina is like being awarded a five star designation as a restaurant. At the last PWYC meeting, Michelle from PW Marina was asked to give us an update on the status of the application from PW Marina. Lastly, don’t forget the tax rebate from the State for gasoline and diesel fuel. The forms are available on line and represent an approximately 10% refund on all of your last years fuel purchases.