DPL: 1 pct. land fee for Street Market remains

Department of Public Lands Secretary Pete A. Tenorio said the land fee remains at 1 percent of Garapan Street Market vendors’ gross sales, in response to a petition from the Thursday night market vendors’ petition to eliminate the fee.

Tenorio said DPL noted the vendors’ efforts in providing added tourist attraction, and he said this is the reason why DPL allows the Garapan Street Market to be conducted on “prime public land.”

The Thursday street market is currently at the Garapan Fishing Base on Beach Road, fronting Saipan’s scenic lagoon.

“It is fair that the DPL charges the 1 percent gross receipts for each vendor, rather than a fixed fee per month or annually. This fee shall remain in place for the duration of DCCA Temporary Authorization with DPL,” Tenorio said in an April 25 letter to Garapan Street Market vendors’ representative Jack Hudak of Thai House Restaurant. DCCA stands for the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, which runs the Thursday night street market.

The DPL letter, a copy of which was obtained yesterday, was in response to the vendors’ Jan. 15 letter.

Hudak, when sought for comment yesterday, said he will be passing copies of DPL’s letter to vendors on Thursday, so that the group can decide as one.

“And we will go from there,” he said.

Juan “Pan” Guerrero, general manager of Herman’s Modern Bakery, one of the vendors at the Garapan Street Market, reiterated yesterday that DPL’s 1 percent land fee is “not right,” considering that vendors are already paying business gross revenue tax and the $50 DCCA fee as well as provide added attraction for tourists and residents.

“For me, this is not right. What else do they want from us vendors?” he asked.

Tenorio, in his two-page letter to Hudak, said the fee that DPL charges vendors is not a new one. The fee used to be 3 percent of vendors’ gross revenues, but this was reduced to 1 percent in June 2012.

The DPL secretary said DCCA’s Angel Hocog “is simply complying” with the provisions in DCCA’s Temporary Authorization that DPL issued for Thursday Night Street Market vendors.

Tenorio said the 1 percent of gross revenues land fee is different and separate from DCCA’s fee of $50 per night of vendor activity. The latter, he said, is for DCCA’s setup and utility expenses.

“It is not an additional fee imposed by DPL,” Tenorio added.

He explained that the Garapan Fishing Base is prime real estate and when appraised for market value will certainly indicate a much higher rental.

“Should an establishment [Street Market vendor] earn a gross of $70,000 a year on the Garapan Fishing Base (which is outside of your main restaurant or retail establishment), it will pay $700 to DPL for that year. This is still a much smaller fee than an annual lease operating 365 days a year. A gross of $70,000 annually is significant revenue to the vendor for only operations of approximately 48 days (or 64 hours) out of the year,” the DPL secretary said.

He added that DPL has been supportive and considerate regarding vendors’ needs by relocating its activity to the Garapan Fishing Base from Coral Tree Avenue.

Tenorio also reminded that vendors were supposed to move back to the Coral Tree Avenue after sewer line projects in the area were completed. But he said DCCA had requested for an extended use of the Garapan Fishing Base, and DPL was happy to authorize the extension.