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Council working draft would add a $2 per-passenger harbor user fee; commission to host public hearing and staff to clarify reporting and exemptions
Summary
City council discussed a harbor user fee draft; the commission learned the council favored a $2 per-passenger fee, twice‑a‑year reporting of counts, a 1.5% late fee referenced, and staff will clarify how guides/charter operators are defined and who pays.
Commissioners reviewed a draft ordinance the city council discussed to create a harbor user fee. The council recommended a $2 per‑passenger fee (staff said an initial $1 proposal had been raised but council moved to $2) and requested that staff produce quarterly or twice‑annual passenger counts for reporting. A public hearing on the draft fee was proposed for the council meeting on Sept. 16. The draft includes a delinquency interest provision similar to the city’s other fees; staff said a 1.5% late fee was used in the draft to mirror other municipal billing practices. Commissioners asked staff to clarify: which activities constitute a harbor user (guides, charter operators, boat ramp users), how youth and veterans discounts would be handled, and how the city would collect and administrate the fee without imposing undue burden on small operators. Staff said the council asked for biannual reporting, that Carl (staff) would handle billing and that the draft would be circulated to the commission before the public hearing. Commissioners asked that any proposed fee be accompanied by clear public‑facing information about where revenue would be spent and whether enforcement or administrative costs would come from the harbor user fee fund.
