City Council Meeting - No Fuel Sales To Tankers At The Shell Dock To Tax

A long-time City Council critic has insisted for the past two years that Martinez is missing out on substantial tax revenue by not collecting sales tax on bunker fuel it sells to tankers at its docks in Martinez. He reiterated his position at the council meeting Wednesday night, saying the city could use the money to save the marina, fund worker salaries and stay in the black.

The problem: according to a Shell spokeswoman, the refinery no longer sells fuel to tankers at the dock.

“There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t be getting revenue from bunker fuel being sold to ships going out of here,” said Mike Alford, who makes a point of attending every council meeting and is often critical of council decisions and policies. He has been an unsuccessful mayoral candidate several times.  “The police could get their contract signed, the city workers could get their money, we would have money coming in that would make us a lot wealthier than Sausilito. This is something that’s very tangible. Why we’re not doing it, I don’t understand.”

At a council meeting in June, Mayor Rob Schroder said that the city was investigating the feasibility of Alford’s suggestion. Last night, Assistant City Manager Alan Shear said he would have the city’s new sales tax auditor look into the matter.

Councilman Mark Ross suggested that one phone call to the state Board of Equalization would settle the matter.

Martinez Patch contacted spokeswoman Erin Hallisy at the Shell Refinery on Thursday. She said that “we do not sell products out of the dock to tankers and haven’t for quite a while.”