Mayor John Williams said he expects to request a half-mill reduction in the property tax based on the Kenai Peninsula Borough's fiscal year 2009 budget set for introduction today.
Ordinance 2008-19 would spend a little more than $67,600 from the General Fund, including $14.7 million for general government operations.
About $40.9 million would go to borough schools for operations and in-kind services, and maintenance, utilities, insurance, custodial services and an annual audit. Another $2.3 million would cover school debt service.
The new budget also would set spending levels for the borough's various service areas and appropriate money to capital projects. When all spending is included, the total is around $108 million.
Williams said Monday he was pleased with the new spending package, which he said might have been less than the current year's total except that an increase of state funding to schools necessitates an increase in the local contribution if the borough's tradition of funding schools to the maximum allowed by law is honored.
But increases in state funding also have allowed the mayor to continue cutting the mill rate.
"Given the revenue sources to the borough, I will recommend a drop in the mill rate by an additional half-mill (down to 5.0 mills)," he said. "We will strive to continue to cut the property tax mill rate."
He said that for the first time in years, the tax burden is now roughly 50-50 between property taxes and the sales tax coupled with all other of income.
"I anticipate the assembly will make some adjustments," he said.
The budget is tentatively scheduled for passage on May 20, but two members are expected to be absent that night. They may call in to participate, or final action may be delayed until early June, Williams said.
In other business, the assembly will hold four public hearings Tuesday.
One involves replacing aging windows in Soldotna Elementary School that have long outlasted their useful life.
Ordinance 2007-19-44 would appropriate $190,000 for a replacement project. That money will be added to $300,000 from general obligation bonds approved in 2006.
In a memo to the assembly, Pat Malone, projects manager, said the existing wood windows in the core area of the school have worn out from decades of exposure to the elements.
In 2006, the estimated cost of replacing the wood-frame windows was about $300,000. By the fall of 2006, however, the borough learned from construction firms and suppliers that the original manner of construction of the windows and walls prohibited replacing just the windows, Malone said. Proper replacement required specially built floor-to-ceiling units, he said.
Williams approved a contract in February 2007 with an architectural firm hired to design new windows. The time needed to design, fabricate and deliver the windows meant putting off the project until this year.
A contractor, Holden Co., has been found to do the work for an estimated cost of $386,237, Malone said. However, with all costs included, the project is about $190,000 short.
If the ordinance is adopted, the combined funds only will be enough to replace about half the windows.
Malone said applications have been submitted to the Department of Education and Early Development for additional funds.
Also up for public hearing Tuesday is an ordinance appropriating matching funds from Central Peninsula Hospital's plant replacement account to go with a major grant from the Denali Commission for a new Serenity House facility.
Ordinance 2006-19-43 would appropriate $401,750 from the fund to match the Denali Grant of $486,750.
Two other ordinances are scheduled for public hearings today.
Ordinance 2007-19-42 redirecting $44,252 from South Peninsula Hospital Service Area's capital project fund to pay for several capital equipment improvement items, including a copier, mail machine, printer, server, backup-archive system and remodeling.
Also, Ordinance 2008-06, which would amend borough code to eliminate citizen requests for nonstandardized speed limit signs on borough roads.
Hal Spence can be reached at hspence@ptialaska.net.
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