Juneau Docks and Harbors is giving various fee-paying users a break to help with financial hardships caused by the pandemic.
The Juneau Docks and Harbors Board approved four measures on Wednesday to refund, defer and reduce certain fees. A fifth measure suspends vessel impounds for live-aboards who can’t make rent, in line with emergency orders at the state level suspending evictions.
First, the board voted to refund $270,000 in waterfront vendor booth permit fees. These are the hawker booths along the Seawalk where tour operators sell excursions to visitors walking off cruise ships. That move may put harbor operations in the red, but board member Bud Simpson said it’s worth it.
“These local operators are gonna need the refund of that money more than we are at Docks and Harbors. It means more for them than it does to us,” Simpson said.
If this year’s cruise ship season gets underway later, the board said it would revisit partial fees.
Second, the board also approved refunds of otherwise non-refundable fees paid paid to secure the first night of advance reservations for mooring at certain city harbors, spots mostly used by small cruise ship companies and yachts. They must show they’ve been impacted from COVID-19.
Uchytil said about $27,000 could be refunded this calendar year from this measure.
Third, the board empowered Uchytil to, on a case-by-case basis, suspend or defer moorage payments in the city’s small boat harbors for April, May and June.
The board has gotten requests to forgive some of these unpaid fees. But board member Bob Wostmann said that’s just not possible.
“This is a very substantial income base for the harbors,” he said. “We simply can’t afford to start giving most of it away. … Forgiveness was something that did not seem like it could be done in any equitable manner.”
And finally, the board reduced the moorage rate affecting a handful of long-term users who can’t come up with enough cash to pay monthly rates in advance. Instead, they pay a much higher daily rate as they go.
Docks and Harbors staff member Jennifer Sims said during the meeting that typically, there’s eight to 10 people a month in this situation. Lately, she said she’s heard from several users waiting to get unemployment benefits who’d also fall into this situation.
The board’s action reduces this group’s moorage rates to the lower monthly rate.
