Ballot props deserve well reasoned consideration

  • Thursday, September 29, 2016 5:07pm
  • Opinion

When voters go to the polls for Tuesday’s municipal election, they will be asked to decide on up to four borough ballot measures.

Proposition No. 1 asks voters to approve up to $10.6 million in bonds to cover the costs of constructing additional cells at the Central Peninsula Landfill. It is a forward-looking proposition as the current cells are expected to be full by 2019. All borough voters will be asked to weigh in on the proposition.

Proposition No. 2 asks voters in the South Peninsula Hospital Service Area to approve up to $4.8 million in bonds for design, construction and equipping of facilities at South Peninsula Hospital and Homer Medical Center.

Much of the discussion on the central Kenai Peninsula has centered on Propositions 3 and 4, both of which are part of Borough Mayor Mike Navarre’s comprehensive review of the borough’s tax code. A number of other changes to the tax code have been approved by the borough assembly; the measures included in the two propositions require approval from peninsula voters.

Proposition No. 3 would enact an ordinance to raise the maximum amount of a sale subject to tax to $1,000. Currently, borough sales tax is collected on the first $500 of a transaction. The measure would exempt residential rentals from sales tax.

Proposition No. 4 would enact an ordinance to gradually phase out the borough’s portion of the property tax exemption borough senior citizens receive. Currently, senior residents are eligible for a $150,000 exemption mandated by the state as well as a borough senior exemption of $150,000, and a borough resident exemption of $50,000, for a total of $350,000 in exemptions. Beginning in 2018, the borough’s senior exemption would be reduced over the course of six years, at borough residents who turn 65 after Jan. 1, 1959, would be eligible for $200,000 in property tax exemptions. Seniors would continue to receive exemptions for which they are currently eligible, and the ordinance would not change the borough’s hardship provision, which caps a qualifying senior’s tax bill at 2 percent of gross annual household income.

Propositions 3 and 4, in our view, also are forward-thinking measures as the borough administration looks at changing economic and demographic trends.

The sales tax cap has not changed since it was put in place in 1965, and with the state government continuing to cut spending, it is reasonable for borough administration to expect to pick up some of those costs. That is especially true when it comes to education, and, in fact, borough sales tax revenue is dedicated to education funding.

The phasing out of the borough’s portion of the senior property tax exemption also has been proposed with an eye on the future. The borough’s senior population is expected to continue to grow, with projections showing that residents over 65 will make up a quarter of the borough’s population in the next 15 years. Should the borough’s senior exemption stay in place, that would mean a shrinking tax base as more residents become eligible, and quite likely, future administrations and assemblies would be looking at increasing mill rates to make up the difference. With Navarre reaching the end of his current term in 2017 and term limits preventing him from running for re-election, it will be a new administration running the borough in 2018 when the provisions of this ordinance begin to kick in.

Certainly, there is a reluctance among many borough residents to pay any more in taxes than we already do. We expect the borough administration to continue to keep an eye on the bottom line, as it has with the various efficiencies that have been implemented over the past few years.

However, the propositions on this year’s ballot represent a well reasoned approach to the borough’s long-term financial health, and as such, we encourage voters to give them the same well reasoned consideration.

More in Opinion

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks in support of an agreement between the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and Goldbelt Inc. to pursue engineering and design services to determine whether it’s feasible to build a new ferry terminal facility in Juneau at Cascade Point. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
State, labor and utilities are aligned on modernizing the Railbelt grid

Today, Alaska has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to capture federal infrastructure dollars and… Continue reading

No to 67%

Recently, the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission voted to raise the pay… Continue reading

This image available under the Creative Commons license shows the outline of the state of Alaska filled with the pattern of the state flag.
Opinion: Old models of development are not sustainable for Alaska

Sustainability means investing in keeping Alaska as healthy as possible.

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.

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

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

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

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.