Kodiak resident says city seeks 506% more tax from auto shop than Highmark Marine paid

During public comment at a Kodiak City Council work session Thursday, Oct. 8, resident Eileen Fitzgerald said the city is suing a local auto shop for taxes 506 percent higher than what Highmark Marine paid for the same year, 2024.

Fitzgerald said the figure is the base tax alone. "That does not include penalties, fees, interest, or anything," she said. "That auto shop is not on subsidized property. That auto shop is not doing city contracts." She did not name the shop.

Highmark has run the city's shipyard since 2020, under a lease-type agreement since November 2024, the meeting packet says. Highmark's 2024 tax payment is not in the meeting record, so the comparison could not be checked. Court records show the city filed four lawsuits this year; which, if any, involves the shop Fitzgerald described could not be determined.

Fitzgerald said many of the matters she has looked into relate to the sinking of the Wild Alaskan, and she asked the council to make sure the city is not acting arbitrarily against people it faces in court. The Wild Alaskan's owner sued the City of Kodiak, city officials and Highmark Marine Fabrication LLC in federal court on March 28, 2023, according to the federal docket. Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the case in October 2024.

Fitzgerald also said the council cites reports as a basis for its decisions without making them public, and that reasons the city gave for suing local businesses are refuted in the businesses' own answers.

No council member or city staff responded to her remarks during the comment period.