Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Haines Borough taxpayers should think twice before accepting the notion that they’re on the hook for rebuilding the Lutak Dock.

What public service is provided by the Lutak Dock? The dock is used by private freight and fuel companies to pick up privately owned goods shipped by a private marine shipper. The dock is owned by the Haines Borough, but the decision by the former City of Haines to take over the dock from the U.S. government in 1977 was likely ill-advised.

Although the Haines Borough this week didn’t have figures for how much the municipality has spent on the dock, it’s clear from a review of news archives that the public has been paying for dredging, maintenance or improvement of the dock regularly since the early 1980s.

If an estimated $33 million rebuild is necessary, the dock represents a cost of about $1 million per year for each of its 37 years in public ownership. That compares to dock income from tariffs that in the most recent year totaled $345,000. At current tariffs, even tripling the volume of freight across the dock would just about cover upkeep.

Raising tariffs isn’t the answer, either. When the Haines Borough last went to raise tariffs to try to keep the facility financially in the black, the dock’s private users protested that the borough’s increased tariff would be passed on to consumers – costing residents more for fuel and groceries. If the Haines Borough can’t charge a tariff high enough to cover maintenance and upkeep without raising local prices on fuel and freight, there’s absolutely no advantage to public ownership.

By all appearances, the dock is a money loser and effectively a subsidy for Seattle and Anchorage-based companies that already enjoy local monopolies and were saved from having to build and maintain their own docks here.

These companies, whose annual revenues dwarf the borough’s budget, use Lutak Dock as a terminus to ship goods all over Alaska and the Yukon Territory.

The borough’s first question shouldn’t be, “How do we raise $33 million to build a new freight dock?” The borough should instead make this statement to dock customers: “Our dock is falling down. You may need to make other arrangements for getting your fuel and freight here. Also, we can make you a good deal on a used dock.”

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It’s not unreasonable for highway residents, who live as far as 40 miles from town, to have access to a public building like the Mosquito Lake School where they can gather to exercise or hold a child’s play group, or even check out books.

Highway residents pay taxes like the rest of us, and a trip to the pool or public library in town can cost them quite a bit in fuel. For use of the Mosquito Lake building, residents should be willing to pay a share of expenses through user fees or a neighborhood tax increase.

It’s also not unreasonable for taxpayers in town to be able to use the high school gymnasium and swimming pool on Sundays, or for their children to use the pool or library on a Friday night.

Here’s a reason why borough leaders who are sitting on $15 million in savings should be willing to spend a fraction of that to provide small comforts to those who live here year-round: A little generosity is typically repaid, with interest.

Residents who get back something from the community become loyal to the town, and are more likely to serve it. They’re also more likely to “talk up” the town, to neighbors, visitors and others.

That’s hometown pride. It can pay big dividends for a community but it doesn’t appear out of thin air. It could come from the Haines Borough investing a bit more in the well-being of its residents.

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Thanks to Annette Smith and her band of volunteers for Saturday’s Lighting of the Fort celebration. The event, organized and paid for by Fort Seward residents, blends secular and non-secular holiday traditions in a celebration that’s charming and neighborly, starting with a cannon blast. It’s also a free party for the entire community thrown by a neighborhood. There’s nothing else quite like it. Thanks to organizers for providing a great example of holiday togetherness and sharing.

- Tom Morphet