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It has only been two days since the 2010 Kenai Peninsula Borough budget and mill rate were set by the borough assembly, and the fiscal numbers are not sitting well with some folks.

The Alliance of Concerned Taxpayers (ACT) formally submitted a revenue cap initiative to the borough clerk's office on Thursday. The initiative limits the revenue the borough may collect from sales tax, as well as property tax.

"It doesn't cut taxes or anything like that, but basically it will control the rate at which taxes can be collected," said Mike McBride, of Nikiski, the alternate prime sponsor of the initiative.

Ruby Dennison, of Ninilchik, the prime sponsor of the initiative, said she believes, if approved, this revenue cap will promote a sustainable fiscal policy for future generations.

"The Kenai Peninsula Borough must be affordable for our children and grandchildren to live and prosper here. At the current rate of tax growth, many folks could soon be forced to leave," Dennison said in a press release.

"Now that the initiative has been submitted, the borough clerk has two weeks to review the document, and accept or reject it.

"We're hoping to hear back from them before that, whether accepted or rejected, and if it's rejected, they have to tell us why and how to correct any legal deficiencies," McBride said.

McBride added that while he expected some resistance from the borough, he hopes the initiative may go through somewhat smoothly, since the ACT attorney who drafted it, has also drafted similar initiatives in other areas of the state.

"Similar revenue caps have existed in Fairbanks, Anchorage and the Mat-Su boroughs for many, many years," McBride said.

He added that by studying and consulting with the attorneys who authored these caps, ACT was able to improve on the original models and compensate for several large loopholes that could have been used by the borough to block the initiative.

"We think this is the best initiative ever submitted for a revenue cap," he said.

If approved for signature gathering, ACT will need to find 1,736 registered voters to sign the initiative petitions in order to place the citizen-sponsored ordinance on the October ballot.

"We're not going to have a tremendous amount of time, but we have an army of volunteers and we'll put out an A.P.B. If given the opportunity, we're up for it," McBride said.

If the initiative makes it onto the October ballot, and voters approve of it, the initiative will become borough code, which cannot be repealed or altered by the borough assembly for two years.

To learn more about the initiative, visit the ACT Web site at www.ACT-KPB.org.

Joseph Robertia can be reached at joseph.robertia@peninsulaclarion.com.