The St. Ignace public marina, which was faced with a $58,860.29 deficit at the beginning of 2009, has reduced expenses in 2009 to dig itself out of debt, ending the year with a positive bank balance of $9,201.

Reductions in overtime hours, the elimination of an employee, and tighter oversight on other expenses allowed the marina to post its first positive bank balance since the marina was expanded in 2003, despite nearly record-low revenues of $401,949.98 in 2009.

Total expenditures were reduced $134,544.14 from their level in 2008. Since the marina was expanded in 2003, only once were the revenues lower than in 2009 -- $309,300.200 was earned in revenue in 2003, the first year the expanded marina was open.

Owing to lower fuel prices last year, the marina was able to spend less on fuel than in 2008, though it also gained less revenue in fuel sales for the year. About 6,018 gallons more fuel were sold in 2009, and the cost of fuel purchases at the marina decreased by $14,246.73 more than revenue from fuel sales.

The second-biggest money-maker for the marina, fees collected from both seasonal and transient boaters, remained relatively flat in 2009, with $611.66 less revenue brought in than in 2009.

Employee wages, one of the things Marina Director Gene Elmer tried to reduce to save money in 2009, decreased by $6,323.76, largely owing to less overtime pay and one less summer employee. There was no change to Mr. Elmer's yearly salary, which remained at the same level as 2008. He said he gave all employees, including himself, a 3% raise in 2008, but the Harbor Authoirty denied a request for a similar wage increase in 2009.

In 2010, Mr. Elmer said, he would likely ask for some pay increase to reward the hard work he saw among employees last season, but said it would be up to the Harbor Authority to authorize such a raise.

Members serving on the Harbor Authority are Chairman George Yshinski, Louis Leveille, Fred Paquin, Tom Della-Moretta, Ken Hardy, John Monville, and Jim DeKeyser.

Deficit elimination plans have been a state requirement for the marina for the past three years, owing to negative fund balances, but Mr. Elmer, who is also the city treasurer, said the positive balance in 2009 should mean the marina is done with this requirement. In 2007, when the state required the city to file annual deficit elimination plans for the marina and seven other city funds, the facility was showing a $20,092 deficit.

The most recent deficit elimination plan filed by the city in June 2009 predicted the marina would be operating in the black by 2013. Deficit elimination plans for the marina were also filed in 2008.

“We planned to do it in five years, but we did it in two,” Mr. Elmer said of reducing the deficit. This was accomplished, Mr. Elmer said, by cutting expenses by reducing staff, more strictly overseeing purchases, and limiting overtime pay.

The marina's financial situation was also bolstered by a $10,000 subsidy in 2009 from the city's Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to help pay off its debt. The marina is scheduled to receive $10,000 more this year and in 2011. After that, Mr. Elmer said he will ask the DDA continue to provide the marina with assistance in paying off the debt. Mr. Elmer is also the chairman of the DDA.