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Boating business owner urges council to revise boat tax code; says Portsmouth rate is out of line with neighbors
Summary
A local boat club owner told council Portsmouth taxes pleasure craft at a much higher rate than neighboring localities and urged code changes to lower the city’s rate to 50¢ per $100 to match peers.
A Portsmouth resident and commercial boat club operator urged council to revise city tax code language that he said taxes private pleasure boats at commercial rates, making business growth in Portsmouth difficult.
Andy Sutter, who identified his address as 10 Crawford Parkway, said Portsmouth currently taxes his pleasure craft at $5 per $100 of assessed value — compared with $1 per $100 in Newport News and a 50¢ per $100 rate he said is standard for private boats elsewhere. Sutter gave an example: a 2023 Cobia center‑console fishing boat assessed at $36,432 would be taxed $364 in Newport News but $1,821 in Portsmouth under the current classification. He told council the disparity makes it difficult to expand his business and asked the council to revisit the matter before the next assessment.
Sutter said the issue has been discussed with past and current council members and with legal staff, but no resolution has been implemented; he asked council to update the tax code so private boat club vessels are taxed at a lower, comparable rate. The transcript does not show council action on the matter; council members acknowledged the comment but did not vote on a code change at the meeting.
