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Juneau may get a break on cost of fast long-term flood fix, but still facing a big bill
- Mark Sabbatini
- 2 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Amendment to federal rule allowing city to pay 10% instead of 25% of project being pursued by Sen. Sullivan, city manager says, as local leaders consider tax and other options for rest
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Juneau got encouraging news this week about possibly paying 10% rather than 25% of the cost of a fast-tracked long-term glacial flooding solution, but that still is an immense bill beyond the city’s current means, Assembly members were told Monday night.
That likely means considering taxes of some sort for people living in flood zone areas and/or citywide, City Manager Katie Koester told the Assembly during a Committee of the Whole meeting. How much will be needed won’t likely be known until December when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to finalize a preferred partner and project to be built.
The Army Corps, which previously was looking at long-term flood projects that might cost $1 billion and take more than a decade to complete, over the past several weeks has said it is now seeking an industry partner for a faster and cheaper project. Because the accelerated process is occurring under the emergency authority provision, the city by default would be asked to pay 25% of the project’s cost versus the 10% local officials were expecting under the conventional process because the project is on tribal land.
But Koester said there appears to be progress on efforts to work with Alaska’s congressional delegation on amending the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) so the city can avoid the higher cost share under the emergency provision.
"I got a phone call from Sen. (Dan) Sullivan's office today that they are working on amending the WRDA language to have that same 90/10 tribal lands cost share that applies to the kind of regular Army Corps of Engineers paths," she said.
Prospective partners are scheduled to make their pitches at the end of September, with the Army Corps saying the type of project is open as long as it keeps Suicide Basin from rising above 1,100 feet and limits flood discharges to 1,000 cubic feet per second. Army Corps officials have also stated there is not a target budget for the project.
Deputy Mayor Greg Smith, who presided over Monday’s meeting, spelled out the implications for the city if the selected project comes in far below the previous ones proposed by the Army Corps.
"If it's a $400 million project and a 10% match that means we need to come up with $40 million and if it's a 25% match we need to come up with $100 million," he said.
Either will be a sizable fiscal puzzle since the current municipal budget already has an ongoing annual deficit of several million dollars that city leaders have been seeking to close via tax measures and program cuts. While discussion by Assembly members on Monday included options such as seeking state funds to cover some matching costs, Koester said a local commitment to the project will be important when seeking federal and other non-local funding.
"I think we have a much stronger argument when we go and say ‘We need a big chunk of money for this project, Congress, if we have both our own bond for match in place and we have participation by our partners in different layers of government," she said. "And that's a policy question for you guys. When do we take this question of local match for an enduring solution to the voters? And who are those voters? Is it the service area? Is it areawide?"
Among the local options Koester presented are a special service area with a separate mill rate, which voters in that area would have to approve, and a citywide bond proposition.
In the meantime, the Assembly is also facing millions of dollars a year in shorter-term costs such as maintenance of HESCO barriers, plus proposals such as compensation for owners of property with those barriers.
Smith suggested "a strike team of three Assembly members to just work closely with staff and maybe just try to sort through things" so the full Assembly has a more refined set of options to consider. Mayor Beth Weldon said she has similar thoughts and on Monday talked to members Neil Steininger, Nano Brooks and Maureen Hall about that possibility.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
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