Assembly moves toward rounding transactions to nearest nickel due to halt of penny production

City government will adjust cash transactions up or down by a penny or two if proposed resolution gets final passage, but people can still pay exact amount

Pennies in a cash drawer at a downtown Juneau merchant on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

It appears cynics can stop worrying about the city trying to take every last penny.

The Juneau Assembly’s Finance Committee on Wednesday advanced a resolution to round all cash transactions to the nearest nickel, a policy being widely adopted by municipalities, businesses and others due to the U.S. Mint halting production of pennies almost exactly a year ago. The cost of producing each penny has risen from 1.42 cents to 3.69 cents during the past decade, according to the mint.

As a result, the number of copper-colored coins (they haven’t been made of solid copper since 1982) in circulation is shrinking and sometimes hard to get in quantity.

"While there are many pennies circulating throughout the world, at some point, the ability for the City to obtain and use pennies for making change will end," Angie Flick, finance director for the City and Borough of Juneau, wrote in an Oct. 30 memo to the committee. "This resolution provides official direction regarding the City’s cash transactions and making change when pennies are not available. Upon adoption of this resolution, CBJ will transition out of using pennies as our bank is no longer providing rolled pennies to customers."

Flick told Assembly members on Wednesday that people with exact change can still pay a non-rounded amount.

The resolution was unanimously advanced by the committee to the full Assembly for consideration.

Flick, in an interview Monday, said cash transactions are still common at some city-owned entities such as pools and Eaglecrest Ski Area, but are a very low percentage of the city’s overall financial activity. She said the policy change should have no effect on the city’s bottom line, since some prices will go up a penny or two, while others go down by that amount.

The change — mirroring what Foodland IGA and some other local stores are doing — means purchases for $1.01 and $1.02 will be rounded down to $1, while $1.03 and $1.04 will be rounded up to $1.05. It’s also a policy recommendation by the Government Finance Officers Association, which develops standards provided to state, provincial, and local government finance officials in North America.

A bill seeking to implement such rounding standards within Alaska was introduced in January by Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River. The bill made it out of the House State Affairs Committee, but stalled in the House Finance Committee.

Penny rounding laws have been enacted in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, according to the law firm Holland & Knight LLP.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.