This item was initially heard at the March 30, 2022 Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee meeting.  The Committee instructed the Administration to work closely with Legal to investigate the penalties for  failure of not having a Business Tax Receipt (BTR)  and docking regulations.

The Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee Administration has a concurrent item looking at Business Tax Criteria.  Failure of not having a BTR and corresponding penalties will be addressed therein.

The Administration has created a Business Tax Working Group to review various sections of the City Code pertaining to BTR’s.  The working group is looking at:  application procedures (Section 102-371); grounds for denial (Section 102-372); grounds for suspension, revocation, and denial (Section 102-381); notice of violation, emergency action (Section 102-383); hearing procedures, and enforcement of orders (Section 102-385).

The working group is comprised of team members from the following departments:

• Finance Department;
• City Attorney’s Office;
• Code Compliance;
• Police Department;
• Fire Department; and
• Building Department

The working group is scheduled to give an update to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee at their next meeting and present a plan at the September meeting.

Docking regulations have been reviewed internally by Administration with input from members of the Finance Department, Code Compliance, Property Management, and the City Attorney’s Office. 

The City has experienced a rise in the number of licensed charter boat operators during the last two years.  There are currently 76 Charter Boat BTRs with a total of 151 vessels licensed in the City.  This number of vessels, added with charter boats from the mainland maneuvering in our waterways, leads to a substantial amount of traffic in our waters.

Over the last five years, the City of Miami Beach has experienced an increase of over 500% in the number of Charter Boat BTRs, alongside an approximate 300% increase in the number of vessels in our waterways.

Charter Boat BTRs - Fiscal Year 2018-2022

Before obtaining a BTR for a Charter Boat business, the marine applicant must first obtain:

• Certificate of Use:  Planning and Zoning review of docking locations for loading/unloading.

• Risk Management Division:  comprehensive insurance review of applicant’s insurance to protect the assets of the City.

• BTR: review of compliance with City Code, County Ordinances and State Statutes.

• Property Management Department:  review of docking space slip availability at the Miami Beach Marina.

• Marine and Waterfront Protection Authority:  advisory review of applications.

Recent Events

As a result of the increase in charter boat businesses, the Miami Beach Marina has reached full capacity for new permanent businesses.

The Property Management Department has advised the following actions to have been imposed at the Miami Beach Marina:

• No new BTR applications for permanent slips will be approved unless a slip space for docking becomes available.

• For charter boats without a permanent docking slip, a Landing Slip Agreement must be first obtained, from the Marina, before their boat may drop off or pick up passengers.

• No BTRs will be issued to charter boat businesses without first obtaining a permanent docking space or a Landing Slip Agreement.

The regulations imposed by the City and Miami Beach Marina have slowed down the number of new applications for Charter Boats.  Combined with regular Code Compliance and Police Department enforcement, the City has been able to substantially curtail this business activity.  Since April 2022, no new applications for a charter boat business have been approved.