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Commission asks staff for fuel pricing analysis after concerns margins are thin
Summary
Commissioners asked marina staff for an annual revenue/expense lookback and comparisons to nearby marinas after staff said fuel sales margins are slim and labor costs can erase profit.
Oak Harbor Marina commissioners asked staff to produce an annual review of fuel revenues and expenses and to share the marina’s fuel-price calculator so the commission can assess whether prices should be adjusted.
The request followed a staff presentation that described slim margins on fuel sales and noted labor costs can consume much of the profit. "It's a labor intensive thing because I've been down there timing it myself of how long somebody spends down there when I'm fueling my boat and it's not insignificant," a commission member said.
Elise, a marina staff member, explained the marina uses a fuel-price calculator that takes wholesale cost and various state fees into account and can output suggested retail levels for diesel and gasoline. She offered to send the commission the calculator and recommended an annual lookback (for example, for 2024) to account for seasonality and purchasing timing. "We have a fuel price calculator that we use," Elise said.
Commissioners discussed whether the marina’s remote location gives it a pricing advantage and noted historical comparisons conducted by BST during earlier marina financial planning. Commissioners asked staff to include a labor factor in the review or, at minimum, to show revenues and expenses in an annual analysis so the commission can see an effective profit margin after labor.
No formal price change was approved. Staff said they would provide the fuel-price calculator, a year-long revenue/expense breakdown, and available comparative analysis from earlier BST planning; the commission plans to review that material at a future meeting.
Background details discussed: the marina’s current retail pricing is updated when fuel is reordered, which can lead to short periods when retail is higher because older purchased fuel remains in tanks while market costs change. Staff also said the marina is training more employees to pump fuel to reduce overtime and improve deployment of staff time.
