Juneau charter boats would pay more than triple per passenger under harbor fee hike

Juneau's whale-watching and other charter boat operators would pay more than three times as much per passenger by 2030 under a fee increase that goes before the Assembly on Monday.

The fee, which operators pay to Docks and Harbors for every passenger who boards a tour from a Docks and Harbors facility, is now $2.05. Under the proposed regulation, it would rise $1.37 every Jan. 1 starting in 2027, reaching $7.53 in 2030, with yearly inflation adjustments on top.

About 250,000 passengers paid the fee in the 2026 fiscal year. At that count, the fee would bring in nearly $1.9 million a year once fully phased in.

The increase will take effect unless the Assembly acts to stop it. City Manager Katie Koester recommends that members take no action, which means the regulation is automatically approved. The Assembly can't change it, but it could reject it and send it back to Docks and Harbors.

Harbor officials say they need the money. Port Director Carl Uchytil first floated a $7.50 fee in August, as the harbor fund headed toward what he called "perhaps the lowest amount ever." He has pointed to the cost of replacing the Statter Harbor breakwater and expanding moorage.

The harbors have also lost their share of the state's raw fish tax this year, which the city budget redirected to general government. Uchytil told a Docks and Harbors committee in October that it costs the harbor fund about $500,000 a year. Later that month, the Assembly kept the harbors as the money's default destination, but added an exception for "extenuating fiscal circumstances."

Not everyone is on board. The Southeast Alaska Whale Watching Association said the increase would hurt local family-owned tour businesses.

The Docks and Harbors board voted 7-2 in September to move the increase forward. An Oct. 29 public hearing drew no substantial objections, according to the Assembly's agenda.

The fee was first set at about a dollar two decades ago.