Our accountant/treasurer is also a member and an accountant by trade. The club is set up, and the income has been carefully structured since we have been there, to pretty much break even. When I was on the board we were told that we can't actually make money or there would be penalties involved. We do have it set up so that any monies left over at the end of a year go into an account that will go towards upgrading our yard equipment (capital expense?) We were also told that once the loan for the dock project is paid off we will have to make a decision to either continue dock fees and dues at the current levels and purchase a new travelift or other equipment or we will need to reduce all the fees to not show a profit.

All of that said, I was not part of setting up the club so I'm not 100% sure about that part. The current situation is NOT based on our income but on the determination of actual property value. We are pretty much land poor and water rich, our basin is easily three times as large as the club grounds which is why we had to limit the membership to 180. We just don't have the room to store any more boats over the winter. The city/county/school district is arguing that our floating docks are actually real property and should be taxed as such.