Review finds errors in about 1 in 4 Kodiak moorage charges it checked

About one in four City of Kodiak moorage charges that consultants could check from fiscal 2025 and 2026 didn't match the published rate and the boat's signed agreement, the consultants found.

The mistakes cut both ways. Boat owners were billed about $94,000 too much across fiscal 2025 and 2026 and about $140,000 too little, according to the consultants' summary for the City Council. Those figures cover only charges the consultants could check against a signed agreement, and they expect similar errors among the roughly 1,900 they couldn't.

Many of the flagged charges billed a boat at a different length than its agreement listed: about half in fiscal 2025 and 86% in fiscal 2026. "If we're only charging a 100-foot boat that's actually 120 feet, it's a big inconsistency," council member Nick Mangini said when the consultants briefed the council Oct. 20.

The consultants said the cause lies in how billing is processed, not with any individual. The harbor sends 700 to 800 statements a month, its vessel agreements were kept on paper, and rates are updated by hand.

For older errors, the harbor chose to focus on customers owed a credit rather than try to collect underbilled amounts, which the summary says would likely be difficult. Since October, staff have run each batch of statements through a new checking tool before mailing. It typically flags 60 to 70 statements, though not every flag turns out to need a fix.

The review also asks the city attorney to settle how moorage should be taxed. The city taxes it as a service, capped at $210 a transaction, but the consultants say the mooring agreement reads more like a rental, which has a $52.50 cap.

The work grew out of the city's fiscal 2025 audit, which found errors in 5 of 40 harbor billing transactions. Harbormaster Monte Anderson is scheduled to present the findings to the Port and Harbors Advisory Board on Tuesday.