The Juneau Assembly has approved a 9% increase to all docks and harbors fees, starting in January.
Carl Uchytil, Juneau’s port director, told the Assembly on Monday that the increase will allow the Docks and Harbors Board to maintain facilities and put more money into savings.
“We have about a quarter billion dollars in infrastructure, and we only have about $3.7 million in savings, in our fund balance,” Uchytil said.
Uchytil said savings are important in grant applications, which often ask applicants to commit some of their own funding. For example, he said, the board has applied to add a drive-down float at Aurora Harbor with help from federal funding, which would require $500,000 in match money.
Docks, which serve cruise ships, and harbors, which serve fishing and recreational boats, have separate finances and personnel. For the most part, both docks and harbors have brought in more revenue than they’ve spent during the last several years. The only exception was during the pandemic, when COVID led to a loss in revenue for the docks.
Four members of the public spoke against the proposal, saying harbor users shouldn’t bear the burden of revenue loss from the cruise industry.
“I do support raising the docks fees paid by tourism and foreign cruise ship lines. They take too much from Juneau, and they need to start giving back more,” said Shane Kraus, a live-aboard. “I am here to speak out against raising the harbors rates that affect local boaters and locally owned businesses.”
Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs said she was unsure how to vote.
“It’s the harbor fee increases that I’m struggling with,” she said. “If they’re firmly in the black, to do a 9% increase for the purpose of building up capital funds, there’s part of me that would rather them come to the Assembly when they need capital funds.”
But member Michelle Hale said that would mean spending more taxpayer money on infrastructure used by a small number of Juneau residents.
“Everybody that doesn’t have a boat or doesn’t happen to live in the harbor is then paying that money for harbor improvements,” she said.
Assembly member Wade Bryson, the Assembly’s liaison to the Docks and Harbors Board, said “there is no easy way” to increase revenue right now.
“I don’t think we’ve talked about raising a single price tag in any city function that hasn’t been met with opposition,” Bryson said.
In 2021, the Docks and Harbors Board considered doubling monthly fees for live-aboards but never sent it to the Assembly for approval. After hiring a consultant to conduct a rate study, the board agreed on a 9% increase on all fees for all customers.
“The board thought that that was the fairest way to proceed,” Uchytil told the Assembly.
The increase will apply to launch fees, resident surcharges, grid usage fees, port maintenance fees and others. Nearly all of them will go up by 9% in January. Monthly moorage fees, which vary depending on the size of a boat, will go up 3% each year for the next three years.
The rate increase passed in a 5-4 vote. Members Bryson, Alicia Hughes-Skandijs, Michelle Hale, ‘Wáahlaal Gíidaak and Mayor Beth Weldon voted yes, and members Greg Smith, Christine Woll, Paul Kelly and Ella Adkison voted no.
