Homer port director recommends inflation increases for most 2027 dock and harbor rates

Homer's port director recommends raising most of the city's dock and harbor fees with inflation next year. He's also flagging a big jump in what it will cost to move freight through Anchorage.

In an Oct. 21 memo, Port Director Bryan Hawkins recommends applying the Consumer Price Index adjustment to most port and harbor rates while keeping the current rate structure. The increase would reach vessel operators, fishers and shippers who pay dockage to tie up and wharfage to move cargo across the docks. The city's Port & Harbor Advisory Commission takes up the recommendation Wednesday, and the City Council adopts the 2027 tariff.

Compared with six other Southcentral ports, Homer "remains generally competitive," the memo says. Docking a 300-foot vessel costs $914 in Homer and $1,196 in Anchorage.

Two rates stand out, and staff proposes no big one-time change to either. Homer charges $1.00 a ton for aggregate, less than Anchorage's $1.52. Its petroleum rate, $1.26 a barrel, is far above Anchorage's roughly 20 cents but below Kodiak's $2.10.

The bigger change may be in Anchorage. On Jan. 1, the Port of Alaska's modernization surcharge on general cargo rises from $8.05 a ton to $22.76. Hawkins wrote that the increase doesn't directly affect his recommendation, but direct barge service to the southern Kenai Peninsula "may become more competitive" than routing cargo through Anchorage and over the highway. It's too early to know whether shipping patterns will change, he wrote, but "Homer should remain competitive and positioned to respond if these changes create opportunities for additional cargo movement through our Port."