Juneau charter operators say $7.50 fee would more than triple bills

Charter and whale-watching operators at Juneau's Statter Harbor would pay about $1.8 million a year in passenger fees, up from roughly $500,000 collected last year, under a rate Port Director Carl Uchytil has put before the Docks & Harbors Board. The figures come from a Southeast Alaska Whale Watching Association presentation included in the packet for the board's Operations & Planning Committee meeting Wednesday, Sept. 16, which takes up the fee as new business.

At its Aug. 27 regular meeting, the board reviewed staff memorandums and voted to hold a public hearing on whether to raise the $2.05 passenger-for-hire fee, as Uchytil recommended.

Uchytil wrote in an Aug. 21 memo that "an increase of the PFH to $7.50 could be reasonably justified. I recommend scheduling a public hearing to solicit input from those affected by a large increase to this fee." He cited services the harbor provides and future expansion needs at Statter Harbor. The committee, chaired by Shem Sooter, had already moved Aug. 19 to recommend the hearing, passing by unanimous consent after Mark Ridgway withdrew an objection once staff agreed to provide specific rate and cost information.

Staff say about 27 vessels commonly use the harbor's passenger-for-hire floats, causing loading congestion and delaying maintenance.

SEAWWA calls the proposed jump a 266% increase and argues operators cannot pass it to customers, since many member companies hold multi-year pricing agreements the association says cannot be changed for one to three years. The association's presentation also disputes comparisons to the Mendenhall Glacier, where the U.S. Forest Service charges permitted commercial operators $2.11 per passenger. SEAWWA argues Statter Harbor is a moorage and loading facility, not a destination.

In written comments to Juneau's Visitor Industry Task Force on May 12, SEAWWA Chair Serene Hutchinson said harbor improvements "benefit all users of the harbor," and that the association worries proposals place a disproportionate funding burden on passenger-for-hire operators. The association is asking the board to reject or reevaluate the $7.50 figure, separate operating costs from capital fundraising, guarantee that fee revenue stays with Docks & Harbors, and consider a smaller, phased adjustment instead.

The fee began in 2005 at $1.10 per person and has been adjusted annually to the Urban Alaska Consumer Price Index since. Docks & Harbors has collected $3,349,539 from it since then. Inspected charter vessels also pay a separate $711.45 seasonal vessel fee. The Harbor Enterprise fund balance is projected at $1.2 million by the end of fiscal year 2027, with a $450,000 annual loss now that the state fisheries business tax is no longer transferred to the fund. The number of charter companies operating at the harbor grew from about 20 in 2017 to about 37 this year.

Uchytil has told the board that the local match for an Army Corps of Engineers replacement breakwater is expected to cost $20 million, with a feasibility cost analysis due in September 2027.

The board has not yet scheduled its public hearing on the fee. The next dated step is the Operations & Planning Committee meeting at 5 p.m. Sept. 16 in Assembly Chambers, where public comment is invited and no rate has yet been set.