RMSA directors ask staff to draft code aligning billing practice for Chilkat Lake Road; request borough study capital funding

The Haines Borough Road Maintenance Service Area (RMSA) directors voted at their May meeting to ask staff to draft code reflecting the RMSA's long-standing billing practice for the Chilkat Lake Road trunk and subzones and to request borough officials consider contributing capital funds for the road.

Board members said the current practice has evolved over about 20 years and differs from the written code in places, creating confusion about who pays for the first two miles of Chilkat Lake Road and related subzone assessments. Nicholas, an RMSA director, said the trunk serves boroughwide uses including tourism and logging and argued the borough should help cover costs: "the borough owns that road, and the road is getting utilized for all kinds of different things." He proposed staff explore code language that would allow borough contributions to the RMSA fund.

Sheila, a borough staff member who displayed a parcel-and-millage spreadsheet to the board, explained how staff has billed a base assessment (described in the draft as about 0.3 mills) that everyone in the RMSA pays and an additional 0.25 mill for Chilkat Lake property owners on top of that, producing a draft combined rate of about 0.55 mills for those parcels. She said the trunk fund has paid for winter plowing under contract, cold patch work, and occasional brushing; the spreadsheet and revenue estimates were described as draft and subject to final assessment and senior-exemption processing.

Directors voiced equity concerns about the existing practice: some property owners who use only a short portion of the trunk still pay the same fixed assessment as owners who directly rely on the first two miles, and nonresident users (including tourists and commercial outfit operators) use the landing and road without paying local property assessments. Board members discussed possible mitigation measures including prorating charges by access distance, asking the borough to contribute out of capital-improvement funds, or pursuing a head tax/permit condition for commercial tours.

After debate, a committee member moved that staff be directed to draft code language to align the written code with the RMSA's current practice. Members then amended the motion to request that borough administration also examine Chilkat Lake Road for capital improvements and consider contributing toward trunk-road capital and maintenance. The motion was seconded and adopted by voice vote; the transcript records the motion and that it passed but does not include a roll-call tally.

Board members and staff identified next steps: staff will draft proposed code language and return with wording for the board to review (members suggested a return in the fall), staff will provide clearer parcel-and-millage breakdowns, and directors will pursue separate outreach or proposals if they want the borough to commit specific capital amounts. The board also clarified related commercial-user-fee policy points: a "1 per yard" reference in the commercial-fee language refers to cubic yards, owner work with borrowed or personal equipment should not trigger commercial user fees, and properties needing remedial work after natural events may be exempt from commercial user fees when authorized by the borough manager or public works director.

The board recessed after completing the motion and agreed to revisit detailed amendments and the draft ordinance at a future meeting.