School board stays out of grocery tax debate

  • By Kelly Sullivan
  • Wednesday, March 4, 2015 9:42pm
  • News

The Board of Education will not formally support the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly’s ordinance that would allow for year-round taxation of non-prepared food items.

The request was introduced in the form of a resolution, put before the school board during Monday’s meeting. Board members Lynn Hohl and Tim Navarre drafted the laydown document.

The resolution was constructed as a possible means of convincing the borough assembly to fund education to the cap during this year, Navarre said. The resolution was devised following a school board work session Monday, where Assistant Superintendent Dave Jones reported on the fiscal year 2016 budget, he said.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Jones reported the maximum allowable contribution the borough can make this year is more than $4 million more than what the district is budgeting. The school district is currently predicting the 2016 deficit at $8.8 million, according to the fiscal year budget scenarios and information document.

The sales tax exemption has resulted in a loss of nearly $16.7 million in revenues from Jan. 9, 2009 through fiscal year 2014, according to the resolution. The sales tax would have generated $3.3 million for the borough during the 2014 fiscal year, according to the resolution.

Nikiski resident James Price, who has been fighting the sales tax for more than half a decade, said the ordinance “is the worst possible way to increase funding.” He asked the school board not to endorse grocery sales tax as a form of generating revenue.

Assembly member Blaine Gilman said the $3 million the sales tax would raise would make it easier for the assembly to fund the school district to the cap.

“The school district is not the only pressure on the borough this year with the (low) price of oil,” Gilman said.

Hohl said she considers a sales tax on grocery items regressive.

“Normally I wouldn’t support a tax like this,” Hohl said. “I feel desperate about finding school funding.”

School board member Dan Castimore said his concern is that boosting the borough’s revenues does not guarantee an increase in funding for the school district. It could potentially alienate members of the public, who chose to vote down the option for the borough to collect the sales tax in 2008, he said.

“It is not our place to support an ordinance that is in direct disagreement with voters,” Castimore said.

School board president Joe Arness said supporting the ordinance would do more harm than good to public perception.

School board member Liz Downing agreed with Hohl that funding education should be the school board’s top priority.

“We have to find a way to fund education or it will kill us,” Downing said.

 

Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

The Ninilchik River on May 18, 2019, in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Ninilchik River to remain closed to king salmon fishing

It was an “error in regulation” that would have opened the Ninilchik River to king salmon fishing on Wednesday.

A table used by parties to a case sits empty in Courtroom 4 of the Kenai Courthouse in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski woman sentenced to 4 years in prison for 2023 drug death

Lawana Barker was sentenced for her role in the 2023 death of Michael Rodgers.

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Seward resident arrested after Monday night police pursuit

Troopers say she led them on a high-speed chase on Kalifornsky Beach Road for around 7 miles.

Concert-goers listen to The Discopians at Concert on the Lawn on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at Karen Hornaday Park in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
‘Dancing at the end of the world’

KBBI AM 890 hosted their annual Concert on the Lawn Saturday.

Lisa Gabriel unfurls a set beach seine during a test fishery for the gear near Clam Gulch, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seine test fishery continues after board of fish calls for more data

The east side setnet fishery has been entirely closed in recent years to protect Kenai River king salmon

Jason Criss stands for a photo in Soldotna, Alaska, after being named a qualifier for the Special Olympics USA Games on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna athlete to compete in 2026 Special Olympics USA Games

Thousands of athletes from across all 50 states will be competing in 16 sports.

The entrance to the Homer Electric Association office is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
HEA opens bids for real property

The deadline to submit bids is 5 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. (right) attends a change of plea hearing related to the October 2023 fatal shooting of Brianna Hetrick on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at the Homer Courthouse in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Mondragon-Lopez sentenced for death of Homer woman

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. accepted a plea deal in February for the shooting of Brianna Hetrick.

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in