Tourism

Skagway charges local sales tax on tours that start and finish in the borough. That excluded commission fees that cruise lines slap on top of tour prices in exchange for arranging the excursion until late last year, when Skagway tweaked its tax code to collect taxes on the full price that tourists pay – including the commission.

Some Assembly members say the change would allow residents to exempt food and utilities from local taxes while keeping the city’s overall sales tax revenue mostly intact.

A new building in Haines is at the center of the Chilkoot Indian Association’s new effort to launch a tourism brand to bring in extra dollars – and to reduce their reliance on the federal government. 

The change applies only to large cruise ships and will equate to millions of dollars in additional city revenue.

The heavily trafficked attraction is operating with reduced staff after federal firings, but it has a higher volume of tourists — and bears — on the horizon.

The proposed initiative sought to impose a five-ship daily limit, cap the annual and daily number of cruise ship visitors and shorten the season.