Kotzebue residents will have to pay 5% more for their city utilities beginning Oct. 1, plus another 5% beginning next April. For businesses, the utility rates are going up by a lot more: around 60% in both October and April.
The Kotzebue City Council approved the suite of rate hikes on Aug. 21. The monthly combined fee covers water, sewer and garbage service.
For most residents, utilities will increase by $8.50 a month in October and again in April. For elders, those increases will be $2 instead. For larger businesses, the increase could be thousands each month.
Kotzebue Finance Director Mike Laughlin said the public works department has operated at a growing deficit for years, which is one of the main reasons for the increase.
“This is like fighting a forest fire with a squirt bottle,” Laughlin said. “I am finding so much stuff I have to fix, and this is just the tip of it.”
Laughlin said rates haven’t kept up, specifically with sewer and trash service costs. The old rates couldn’t cover necessary equipment, like a new baler. Laughlin had proposed doubling rates across the board over eight months, but the council opted for smaller increases for residents.
“We just need to do something, because we aren't going to be here in a few years to provide anything for anybody,” said council member Cory Jackson.
Several council members said Laughlin’s proposal was too high for the quality of services provided, citing high levels of manganese and other contaminants in the city’s drinking water.
Kotzebue Mayor Derek Haviland-Lie pointed to inconsistent garbage collection.
“If we're going to be wanting to charge our residents more, we need to step it up,” said Haviland-Lie. “We can't be doing this half-assed stuff like we are now.”
The city gradually raised rates from 2023 to this year, based on a utility rate study by the Alaska-based consulting firm DOWL. The increases beginning in October are separate from those rates.
Laughlin said the city has not billed for water since February due to high levels of manganese. In April 2024, the city council directed the city to waive fees for months when manganese levels are above standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Laughlin said the city will begin charging for water again next month.
For transparency: Mike Laughlin is a KOTZ volunteer.
