08:58 AM CDT on Tuesday, April 25, 2006

By Greg Barr / Galveston County Daily News

GALVESTON — In January 2005, Port of Galveston officials put into operation a plan to make thousands of dollars every year to offset the costs of maintaining its two cruise ship terminals.

Every time a shuttle bus or similar vehicle pulled up in front of a cruise ship terminal to unload passengers, it would pay for the privilege.

Fifteen months later, however, the port has not collected those tariffs from most of the operators who deliver and pick up passengers week after week at the increasingly busy cruise terminals.

On Monday, the Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves, which oversees port operations, agreed to try to collect.

During the next two months, board members will meet with hotel owners, limousine service operators and competing cruise ship parking lot operators to come up with a consensus on how those tariffs will be assessed and collected.

What’s more, the port will also try to deal with the sticky issue of collecting what it says are unpaid drop-off fees totaling $225,883.

For example, the port claims that Galveston Limousine Service is at the top of an 11-company “delinquent account” list at $82,700, followed by EZ Cruise Parking at $23,160. At the bottom of the list is the Holiday Inn Express at $2,588.

“We just can’t continue with the status quo,” said Benny Holland, wharves board chairman. “It’s getting out of hand, and those who owe us money know it’s getting out of hand.”

Board member Bob Hoskins cast the lone dissenting vote when the board voted to wait until June to put the tariff collection mechanism in place, saying the port should collect what is owed immediately.

Port Director Steve Cernak has maintained all along that this is not a for-profit scheme. He says the tariff will help defray the increased security costs at the port since 9/11 but will also be a way for businesses that profit from the cruise ship business in Galveston to share in the cost of maintaining or expanding those terminals to bring in bigger ships and more passengers.

By the time the board meets in June, it hopes to have a mechanism in place to enforce the fee collection.

Joe Jaworski, the city council representative on the board, compared the situation with the city’s recent decision to get tough with people with unpaid parking tickets.

“As a public institution, we just can’t let people off the hook and have to make good on collecting,” said Jaworski. “Those whose business benefits from these public facilities like cruise terminals should pay a reasonable fee. The good news is that some of the larger operators want to resolve this amicably.”

Exactly what is reasonable seems to be a matter of debate, considering that different kinds of operators pay different tariff fees.

For example, an independent taxicab owner pays $50 a year for a license fee and $7.50 for an annual sticker, but the owner of a fleet of cabs pays a one-time $250 fee plus $7.50 per vehicle.

The owners of hotel shuttles, coach bus lines and companies that maintain competing cruise ship parking lots all pay $250 for an initial license, renewable at $50 a year. But they are also supposed to pay $10 for every trip to pick up or drop off passengers, which has become the main point of argument.

Mike Lindley, owner of parking lot competitor Lighthouse Cruise Parking, who has been in business since January, said $10 is not unreasonable if a bus is full of passengers. But more often than not, he said, a driver will swing back to pick up a couple of stragglers with a near-empty vehicle.

“I don’t want to fight [the port], but I just want to get my piece of the pie,” said Lindley. “I just don’t like the $10 [per trip] tariff. I think it would be better to pay a reasonably amount annually or biannually.”

Galveston Limousine Service, which operates the Lighthouse buses, is subject to the per-trip fee.

Buzz Elton, owner of the Victorian Condo Hotel — which according to the port is $3,472 in arrears — agreed with Lindley that $10 per trip is too steep.

“I’m a strong supporter of the port, but I think I should just have to get an annual pass and be treated like everyone else,” said Elton. “I understand the port is in a bind, but we shouldn’t have to pay [a per-trip] fee especially for only carrying one or two passengers.”