Congress not looking out for rural communities

  • Saturday, January 24, 2015 5:37pm
  • Opinion

Money doesn’t grow on trees, nor have

timber sales grown with them. Unfortunately for rural communities near land owned by the federal government — the combination will be particularly destructive to budgets in the coming year.

At the end of the year in 2014, Congress decided not to fund Secure Rural Schools — a program that provided more than $270 million to nearly 730 counties in 2013.

The money is meant to offset a lack of funds in communities where a large proportion of the land is owned by the federal government. Local governments and communities cannot collect taxes on federal land. The federal government owns nearly 43 percent of the land in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, according to borough figures.

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

For 100 years, the federal government shared revenue from its timber harvests, but when those harvests began to decline, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. The act provided payments — based on years with high timber harvests — to counties and schools in 42 states.

Because Congress didn’t fund the program, communities will revert back to the 1908 act, which will provide significantly lower funding than the Secure Rural Schools act.

In Alaska, this means that instead of the $14,245,000 that the state received in 2014, the state will get $535,200.

On the Kenai Peninsula, in 2014 the borough got $676,602 from Secure Rural Schools payments, or about 4.75 percent of the state’s total funding. If that funding mechanism stays the same, that means the borough will get just over $25,000.

Fortunately the Kenai Peninsula Borough isn’t in a position to have to budget for the funds and Craig Chapman, finance director, told the Clarion earlier this week that the borough’s budget leaves room for the possibility that the payments may not come.

Still, the lack of funding is bound to tighten budgets at a time when they’re already snug — especially in a state so dependent on revenue from natural resources.

It is frustrating that funding for a program that communities largely use to fund rural schools and roads could be cut. As far as entitlement programs go, this one seems like a fair trade for those living near a vast area of natural resources that communities are unable to exploit because the federal government controls them.

The Secure Rural Schools funding has a disproportionate impact on the rural communities in Alaska and while the Kenai Peninsula Borough may have a more diverse revenue stream than its hyper-rural counterparts, we’re sure to feel the impact of those cuts somewhere.

Where is the borough supposed to go for a tax base to supplement those funds when the government that owns the lands is deaf to the needs of those who need them the most?

If Congress isn’t going to ensure that forested communities have the revenue they need to fund schools and roads, it shouldn’t deprive them of the ability to fund those projects by barring active management of the land surrounding them.

More in Opinion

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia at a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Doug Mills/The New York Times file photo)
Opinion: Mistaking flattery for respect

Flattery played a role in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Life is harder when you outlive your support group

Long-time friends are more important than ever to help us cope, to remind us we are not alone and that others feel the same way.

Deven Mitchell is the executive director and chief executive officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.)
Opinion: The key to a stronger fund: Diversification

Diversification is a means of stabilizing returns and mitigating risk.

A silver salmon is weighed at Three Bears in Kenai, Alaska. Evelyn McCoy, customer service PIC at Three Bears, looks on. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Will coho salmon be the next to disappear in the Kenai River?

Did we not learn anything from the disappearance of the kings from the Kenai River?

Jonathan Flora is a lifelong commercial fisherman and dockworker from Homer, Alaska.
Point of View: Not fishing for favors — Alaskans need basic health care access

We ask our elected officials to oppose this bill that puts our health and livelihoods in danger.

Alex Koplin. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: Public schools do much more than just teach the three Rs

Isn’t it worth spending the money to provide a quality education for each student that enters our schools?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter to the Editor: Law enforcement officers helped ensure smooth, secure energy conference

Their visible commitment to public safety allowed attendees to focus fully on collaboration, learning, and the important conversations shaping our path forward.

Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo
The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources.
My Turn: Stand for the community radio, not culture war optics

Alaskans are different and we pride ourselves on that. If my vehicle… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) delivers his annual speech to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Sullivan, Trump and the rule of lawlessness

In September 2023, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan established his own Alaska Federal… Continue reading

UAA Provost Denise Runge photographed outside the Administration and Humanities Building at the University of Alaskas Anchorage. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: UAA’s College of Health — Empowering Alaska’s future, one nurse at a time

At the University of Alaska Anchorage, we understand the health of our… Continue reading

U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, address a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: A noncongressman for Alaska?

It’s right to ask whether Nick Begich is a noncongressman for Alaska.… Continue reading

Boats return to the Homer Harbor at the end of the fishing period for the 30th annual Winter King Salmon Tournament on Saturday, March 23, 2024 in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Opinion: Funding sustainable fisheries

Spring is always a busy season for Alaska’s fishermen and fishing communities.… Continue reading

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