KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
For more than 10 years the Kodiak Island Borough clerk’s office has also operated as a U.S. Passport Acceptance Facility, but that’s going to change in a few weeks. Clerk Nova Javier explains that the recent changes in processing requirements and the reduction in fees paid to acceptance facilities is prompting the closure.
The clerk’s office has offered the passport service since the state courthouse stopped accepting them in 1998. The last date the passport acceptance facility in the clerk’s office will operate is December 5th, but is effectively the evening before, as the 5th is a Saturday.
— (Passport 1 22 sec "It was determined … facility in Kodiak.")
In September, the U.S. Passport Agency started requiring traceable delivery methods, such as delivery confirmation or signature confirmation. That required the clerk’s office to deliver each application packet to the post office, rather than have it picked up at the borough building by a mail carrier. The clerk provided a spreadsheet showing that if one application came in, it would actually cost the borough 10-dollars. If two were processed – at 25-dollars apiece – and mailed together, the borough would do slightly better than break even.
Assemblywoman Sue Jeffrey thanked the clerk’s office for providing the service for so many years, and added the post office provides one-stop shopping:
— (Passport 2 21 sec "It’s perfectly reasonable … very well down there.")
Assemblywoman Judy Fulp agreed:
— (Passport 3 10 sec "It is very easy if you … your passport you still got the card.")
Mayor Jerome Selby explained how the borough got into the passport business:
— (Passport 3 34 sec "We sort of got into this … that you folks did.")
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