Seaport committee studies request for lower fees

The seaport facilities committee will study the request of the majority of its tenants operating outside the commercial port area for lower passenger fees and charges.

According to board chairman Roman S. Palacios, the committee will look into the fee structure in these less developed properties of the ports authority because management has yet to implement the needed structural changes.

The ports authority received a request from lawyer Stephen J. Nutting, representing Pacific Subsea Saipan and five other tenants of CPA occupying the Seaplane Ramps and its adjacent properties.

Based on the claim of the tenants, the ports authority cannot charge them the new rates amounting to $4.50 passenger fee to a dock area that does not have the same facilities as the commercial port.

The lawyer claimed that the tenants are even paying rentals which equal or greatly exceed the appraised value of the property they occupy. Pacific Subsea currently pays 3 percent of its gross revenues which averages approximately $3,000 per month.

However, the appraised value of the space it occupies only cost $7,368 per year or $614 per month based on the appraised value of the Division of Public Lands. This means that Pacific Subsea is already paying almost five times the appraised value of the property in rent.

To assess an additional passenger fee to the tenants occupying the Seaplane ramp in an amount equal to that assessed at the newly renovated commercial port would be incredibly inequitable and unjust given the present dilapidated conditions at the area and the high rents already paid, Nutting said in a letter to Palacios.

He added that it is impossible for the tenants who are currently catering to tourists to set a new pricing schedule to accommodate the new rates since they have already contracted their sales agents for the tours for this year. Pacific Subsea has already spent some $250,000 in advertising materials, pamphlets, brochures, etc. which become useless if a new fee is imposed.

Considering the present business climate, it cannot pass on the new charges to their customers and it is also difficult for the tenants to absorb these additional fees, he added.

Pacific Subsea has been unable to pay a dividend to its shareholders for nearly two years now. On top of this, it has almost completely depleted its capital reserves to meet its day-to-day expenses as a result of a shortfall in revenues.