Assembly takes cautious approach to budget

  • Saturday, June 7, 2014 10:42am
  • Opinion

After some discussion and debate, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly last week approved a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2015.

While anyone reading through the document may finds items to criticize, the budget appears balanced in two important ways — government expenditures and revenues pencil out while a healthy fund balance is maintained, and borough residents receive a good level of government services for taxes paid.

The Clarion reported that last Tuesday’s budget discussion focused on three areas — education, funding for non-departmental organizations and assembly expenses — and while votes were split on some amendments, the assembly unanimously approved the spending plan. The discussion on those items shows the assembly taking a pragmatic approach to allocating public money.

The assembly took a cautious stance on school funding, voting for a $500,000 increase to its contribution to the school district while waiting to see how the rest of the education funding picture shapes up before addressing the rest of the district’s $1.5 million request.

As assembly member Charlie Pierce noted, the school district is not facing a financial emergency, and as Borough Mayor Mike Navarre said, the borough can increase funding at a later date, but can’t reduce it.

Assembly members considered a proposal to cut funding for non-departmental agencies in half, and another to reduce funding by 10 percent. Those amendments did not pass, but during the debate the assembly was able to look beyond its own budget and consider what the agencies are able to do with the funding, for example, leveraging borough support to obtain matching funding from other sources.

And on the topic of assembly expenses, assembly members were able to trim their travel budget while prioritizing trips that most benefit the Kenai Peninsula, including trips to visit with lawmakers in Juneau and Washington, D.C.

“I think there’s value to some travel and I think the assembly recognizes that even with the reductions they made,” Navarre told the Clarion. Navarre also noted that borough spending priorities are where they should be.

When it comes to spending the public’s money, you can’t please everyone. But the budget plan approved by the assembly shows a responsible approach to fiscal planning and is the result of a good budget process.

More in Opinion

Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveils proposals to offer public school teachers annual retention bonuses and enact policies restricting discussion of sex and gender in education during a news conference in Anchorage. (Screenshot)
Opinion: As a father and a grandfather, I believe the governor’s proposed laws are anti-family

Now, the discrimination sword is pointing to our gay and transgender friends and families.

Kenai Peninsula Education Association President Nathan Erfurth works in his office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voices of the Peninsula: Now is the time to invest in Kenai Peninsula students

Parents, educators and community members addressed the potential budget cuts with a clear message.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: An accurate portrayal of parental rights isn’t controversial

Affirming and defining parental rights is a matter of respect for the relationship between parent and child

t
Opinion: When the state values bigotry over the lives of queer kids

It has been a long, difficult week for queer and trans Alaskans like me.

Dr. Sarah Spencer. (Photo by Maureen Todd and courtesy of Dr. Sarah Spencer)
Voices of the Peninsula: Let’s bring opioid addiction treatment to the Alaskans who need it most

This incredibly effective and safe medication has the potential to dramatically increase access to treatment

Unsplash / Louis Velazquez
Opinion: Fish, family and freedom… from Big Oil

“Ultimate investment in the status quo” is not what I voted for.

An orphaned moose calf reared by the author is seen in 1970. (Stephen F. Stringham/courtesy photo)
Voices of the Peninsula: Maximizing moose productivity on the Kenai Peninsula

Maximum isn’t necessarily optimum, as cattle ranchers learned long ago.

(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: The time has come to stop Eastman’s willful and wanton damage

God in the Bible makes it clear that we are to care for the vulnerable among us.

Caribou graze on the greening tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska in June, 2001. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: AIDEA’s $20 million-and-growing investment looks like a bad bet

Not producing in ANWR could probably generate a lot of money for Alaska.

Most Read