With the fiscal year drawing to a close, the Nome Port Commission is considering potential rate hikes and revisions to the Port Tariff in 2015.
In a work session at Old St. Joe’s last Thursday, the commission reviewed a contracted study projecting port costs – and possible rate adjustments – over the next thirty to forty years.
Commission members were conflicted about the possibility of raising rates – even incrementally, over time. Chairman Jim West, Jr. worried that rate hikes would price some port users out of business, ultimately hurting the port’s growth.
“It’s very expensive to be here in Nome,” he said. “Everybody’s talking about raising rates, raising this, raising that. What happens if we raise the rates and in 20 years we have nothing? I would like to see where we lower the rates to stimulate the economy and give more people entry.”
Commissioner Charlie Lean agreed that a rate hike would be unwelcome news. But he said a “rainy day fund” for future maintenance projects and emergencies is “a necessity” – and acknowledged that an increase in revenue could help to build that fund.
Commissioner Rolland Trowbridge also advocated a forward-thinking financial plan.
“I think we’re standing on the shoulders of a lot of good planning,” he said Thursday. “We built this Cadillac port [and] when I got here in 2009 you didn’t need it. But now, it looks really smart. And forty years from now we’ll be looking really smart if we plan ahead now.”
Trowbridge also emphasized the point that a five percent increase in cargo rates for shipping companies, for example, won’t translate to a five percent increase in the price of goods in Nome.
“That would be like saying if you raised the cost of my heating fuel in my shop by five percent the cost of fixing your car would go up five percent as well,” he said. “That’s not true. That’s one little teeny piece of the puzzle for somebody who’s shipping fuel or gravel.”
No decisions were made yesterday on what specific rates may increase, if any – though Port Project Manager Joy Baker presented the commission with a chart of Nome’s current rates in comparison to other ports around the region.
The commission agreed to review that information and readdress the subject at a future work session. The remainder of Thursday’s meeting was dedicated to a review of possible revisions to the Port Tariff – which ranged from clarifying existing regulations, to incorporating new language.
Additional review of the Port Tariff will take place at the next commission work session, which is scheduled for the first week of January.
