Assembly to consider bond and sales tax items for ballot, plus repeal of tax exemptions Monday

$16M school bond, $9.4M utility bond, renewal of 3% sales tax on agenda; members also set to vote on tax breaks for nonprofits, historic property repairs and agent commissions

Residents wait for their opportunity to testify during a Juneau Assembly meeting on June 8, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

The Juneau Assembly on Monday is scheduled to consider putting bond measures for school and utilities projects, plus renewal of a longtime 3% sales tax, on the Oct. 6 municipal election ballot.

City leaders are also set to consider several changes to local taxes that are part of their months-long efforts to resolve a financial shortfall after voters approved two tax-cut measures in last year’s election. Among the proposed changes are scaling back or eliminating exemptions for historic property repairs, agent commissions for sales of "tangible personal property other than real property," and retail sales by government and social service nonprofit organizations.

The 3% sales tax renewal will be the most impactful — if voters fail to renew it as they have every five years for decades. Juneau current 5% sales tax includes a 1% permanent tax, a 1% temporary tax also renewed every five years by voters for decades and the 3% tax.

"Revenue from the temporary 3% tax provides a stable funding source for municipal services, including police, fire, parks, libraries, and capital improvement projects," the agenda for Monday’s meeting notes. The tax is set to expire on July 1, 2027.

Voters will likely be asked next year to renew the temporary 1% tax, which expires Sept. 30, 2028. The roughly $60 million from that tax was designated during the 2022 election for a range of specific projects.

While the Assembly is near certain to put the 3% sales tax renewal before voters, hesitation has been expressed by some members about the bond measures because two citizen-initiated tax increases are already on the ballot. One is a seasonal 1% sales tax that would be in effect from April through September, the other would raise the property tax cap to 12 mills instead of nine.

The larger bond provides up to $16 million for renovating public school buildings. A list of projects selected by Juneau School District leaders includes heating and ventilation improvements at seven schools, reroofing Glacier Valley Elementary School and partially reroofing two other schools; and security and safety upgrades districtwide.

The second bond is for up to $9.4 million for city water/wastewater utility upgrades. The ordinance for the bond states the funding will be used for "work at the Mendenhall Wastewater Treatment Plant: FOG/grit removal, outfall maintenance/rehabilitation, site improvements (lighting, security, HVAC and access); sequential batch reactor influent valve replacement and other wastewater utility infrastructure projects."

The Assembly Finance Committee in June unanimously approved sending the school bond to the full Assembly for consideration, while two members opposed the utilities bond. Similar bonds were considered and rejected by the Assembly last year, due in part to other tax-related propositions already set to appear on the ballot.

The changes to the tax code also on the agenda for Monday’s meeting are part of a list the Assembly began considering this spring when it was trying to close a projected $16 million gap in this year’s municipal budget. The most significant in terms of revenue eliminates the sales tax exemption for retail sales by nonprofit organizations — although purchases by nonprofits would still be tax-free — but Monday’s agenda note the language has been altered to only apply to government and social service nonprofits.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. in the Assembly Chambers. Public testimony will be allowed on the three ballot items as well as the proposed tax changes.

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