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

Boaters would see small increases in a number of harbor-related fees if the Haines Borough Assembly approves an Aug. 25 recommendation by the borough’s harbor committee.

The committee last week recommended raising the annual moorage rate at the small boat harbor by 3% per linear foot each year starting this October and the transient rate — for daily or monthly tie-ups — by 5% a year.

They also proposed doubling the harbor’s upland storage fee from $0.20 to $0.40 per linear foot per month; bumping up monthly live-aboard fees from $75 to $80 at Portage Cove and $35 to $40 at Letnikof; and increasing the annual harbor crane use cost from $50 to $60.

The current fee schedule, which was adopted in 2019 and expires in October, established a $1 per foot increase each year for annual moorage rates. Committee member Norman Hughes in June suggested continuing the dollar-increment increase but other members said they preferred to make it proportional.

The proposal also would change the borough’s approach to transient rates, which would increase in small annual increments rather than in larger but less frequent ones.

Committee members proposed the fee increases mainly to compensate for inflation and to generate additional revenue. For the current fiscal year, the borough projects $119,000 in revenue from annual moorage slips and $65,000 from transient fees.

The current annual rate is $28 per foot up to 40 feet and $34 per foot after that. All boats under 25 feet are charged a flat $700.

The harbor’s transient moorage fee is currently a flat rate of $0.65 per foot each day for up to two weeks and $6.50 per foot each month for longer tie-ups. Under the committee’s proposal, those rates would bump up in the coming year to a daily $0.68 per foot and monthly $6.82.

Committee member Jake Eckhardt said in June he saw the 3%/5% plan as a compromise between members who wanted to make sure the fee keeps up with inflation and generates revenue and the harbormaster, who suggested waiting a year until he had more time to study the issue, discuss with other communities and ensure “a decent package” for the assembly.

“Revenue is key here — for our livelihood, for jobs, hiring extra people,” member Fred Gray said in June. “So I think we have to address it.”

Member John Upton said at the committee’s meeting earlier this summer he thinks the borough has room to increase rates without being predatory. He pointed to Sitka, where both permanent and transient rates are significantly higher. Annual moorage for a 30-foot boat in Sitka is $1,555 compared to $840 in Haines.

Rates vary widely across Southeast Alaska. A 30-footer would cost $927 to tie up in Wrangell for a year, and $1,110 in Petersburg, but only $438 in Skagway.

Different communities have different charges, though. Some, like Haines, have an annual fee for permanent moorage. Others, like Sitka, have a monthly fee.

Haines bumps up its fee for boats more than 40 feet. Wrangell’s increases after 30 feet, and again after 55 feet.

The assembly last month took no action on a proposal from the harbor committee to raise the annual moorage rates because it was piecemeal and didn’t include changes to the rest of the harbor fee schedule, borough clerk Alekka Fullerton said.

The harbor committee plans to address the port tariff at a future meeting. It meets next on Sept. 22.