City puts glacial flood protection, school board puts local control at top of legislative priority lists
- Mark Sabbatini
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Assembly’s list focuses on projects, school district’s on policies ahead of start of session next Tuesday
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
In their own ways, city and school district leaders are hoping state lawmakers help them get a better control on things during this year’s legislative session scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Legislative priority lists were approved this week by the Juneau Assembly and Juneau Board of Education, with each taking a different approach. The Assembly’s 21-item list is a ranking of projects it is seeking funding for, while the school board’s features seven policy-related items (although all in some way involve funding).
Assembly seeks help for projects during lean budget year for state
The top request on the Assembly’s list is $25 million for "Glacial Outburst Flood Response, Mitigation & Preparedness," a foremost issue for city leaders since annual record flooding began in 2023. Next are $3 million for preparatory work on the Juneau Douglas North Crossing, $6.3 million for upgrades to the Mendenhall Wastewater Treatment Plant, $14.2 million for a transfer station for solid waste and $1 million for further housing development at Pederson Hill.
"This is a process that begins in the fall, and goes through lots of public comment and iterations, and once you pass it tonight we will share it with both our state and federal delegation," City Manager Katie Koester reminded Assembly members before they passed it unanimously without discussion during their meeting Monday night.
A 29-page report provides a page of details and projected costs for each project, plus an FAQ about the list and other details.
The flood request, for instance, notes the city is "considering all available short and long-term solutions to mitigate the potential widespread damage" from future floods, and that the city has spent about $11.2 million of municipal funds toward those so far. Also, while the total cost of all work is unknown, a proposed long-term "lake tap" drainage system being pursued through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers "is estimated to cost over $600M and require a yet to be identified local funding match" to receive federal money expected to cover most of the cost.
Items towards the top of the city’s list generally reflect projects in progress with state and/or federal support. The Corps of Engineers has committed funding and other resources towards flood mitigation, for instance, while the long-discussed second Juneau-Douglas crossing is in the state’s four-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.
Among the lower-ranking items are $12 million for a multimodel path in Lemon Creek (ranked 12th) and $2 million to partially fund a Waterfront Juneau Douglas City Museum (ranked last at 21). The Assembly on Monday diverted local funding from both projects toward plans to relocate City Hall to the Michael J. Burns Building, stating the move is a high priority and circumstances aren’t favorable for short-term development of those other projects.
How many items on the Assembly’s list get serious consideration by legislators is largely dependent on how much funding is available in the capital budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 — and official projections so far indicate such spending will be lean. The Legislature last year passed a capital budget with $167.9 million in general-purpose state dollars — one of the smallest in recent history — and a revenue forecast projecting lower oil prices during the year ahead means lawmakers will likely have less funds to spend.
School board seeks to stop ‘overreach by the state and federal government’
Topping the school board’s list is "maintain local control for the operation of our schools." As with the other items on the list, there’s a sublist spelling out specifics.
Among the four bullet points are "oppose any overreach by the state and federal government," and "oppose non-legislative changes to the State funding formula." Those reflect concerns expressed by school board members in Juneau and other communities in Alaska about state and federal efforts during the past year to impose fiscal and social policy mandates on districts.
Among such proposals at the state level is restricting funds municipalities can give districts for non-instructional activities, which local officials have said could strip several million dollars from what this year is a $95 million budget. At the federal level, President Donald Trump is taking steps to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and demanding schools implement policies that conform to his political agenda.
Elizabeth Siddon, vice president of Juneau’s school board, said during a board meeting Tuesday night the district’s legislative list is based on discussions that occurred during the Association of Alaska School Boards’ conference in November, with some local adjustments.
The top item about local control, for instance, includes a bullet point encouraging a partnership between the city and school district "with regard to emergency response coordination."
"I think that conversation started with respect to the glacial outburst flood," Siddon said. "It's only been sort of highlighted this week — that important partnership between the city and school district — this week with the snow and avalanche hazards."
Other items are largely funding-related, but go beyond seeking an increase to the Base Student Allocation that has been a dominant issue in recent years. The BSA that was set at $5,960 a year ago was increased by $700 by legislators last year, the first major increase since 2011.
The district’s list this year seeks, in order, pupil transportation, Individuals With Disabilities Education Act funding, school meals, another BSA increase, funds to support education mandates such as the Alaska Reads Act, and school maintenance and debt bond reimbursement.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
