Let’s quit fighting and work together

(City and Borough of Juneau photo)

By Dave Hanna

Juneau is facing some serious challenges and unfortunately it is bringing out the worst in some folks. While we should be worrying about our flooding in the valley, our seasonal economy, our housing shortage, and our outmigration of the younger generation, instead we are milling about and shouting that the sky is falling due to the perceived budget shortfall.

Unfortunately, the city manager, the mayor and Assembly have been quick to assign the blame to the passage of two ballot measures last year that capped the property assessments at the level they had been maintaining and eliminated sales tax on food and essentials for everyone instead of just senior citizens. Some ill-informed and misguided individuals have jumped on the bandwagon and unleashed extremely ill-spirited, untrue, and downright slanderous attacks on some of the folks who helped with the creation and deliverance of these measures.

I will not delve into these attacks except to say that everybody involved has the community’s best interests at heart. We all know how difficult it is for younger folks to get ahead these days and did our best to see if we could move the needle. When folks resort to name-calling it generally means they do not have any valid arguments to back up their position. I certainly have not seen any. In the meantime, let me do my best to explain the rationale behind the initiatives.

The property tax initiative was basically a way to ensure that the city would not be able to accelerate its irrational expenditures. It simply capped the tax rate where it currently stood. Folks might say that it doesn’t take inflation into account, but actually it does. As inflation takes place, all costs and values go up, and your assessment reflects that. If the assessors are doing their job, and they seem to have been, then your rising assessments will compensate for inflation. Folks may say that this does not benefit renters, but the fact is that approximately one month of every year’s rent goes to property taxes. Lower taxes directly benefit renters.

The sales tax initiative should be easier to understand. Indeed, it must be, for it passed overwhelmingly. I have seen some comments that the savings are exaggerated and insignificant. It would appear these folks are quite out of touch with today’s reality. A thousand or more dollars per year is quite significant to someone on a limited income and we have many folks who fit this description. When you add up groceries, lights, heat, water, sewer and electricity, it is quite easy to spend $20,000 to $30,000 a year on these basics for an average family. For someone of limited means, $1,000 or $1,500 is a very significant sum. 

But some folks say that they just don’t care. If the city says they need more money, then we should just give it to them no matter what. Well, I guess its matter of perspective, and mine must be different.

If you believe that the city should tear down 13 residences at a cost of $5 million, and put in another $5 million to $10 million to develop without a plan, then maybe they need it. If you think the city should spend an additional $8 million to $10 million dollars to remodel the Burns Building, then maybe they need it. If you think the city should waive 12 years of property taxes to developers who build apartments, then maybe they need it. If you think the city should go in the hole millions of dollars to develop a subdivision and then give the profit-generating second phase away, then maybe they need it. If you think that it was rational to award a contract for free wireless downtown to the highest of six bidders even though their own review board told them that it was a mistake and that their choice was unqualified then maybe they need the money. (As a side note the awarded company submitted a price that was three times as high as the truly responsive bidders yet they were awarded the project. Although it was supposed to be completed in six months, two years later it appears to not yet fully function). The responsible bidders were millions lower.

Yes, my perspective is different. I could go on for pages more of how the city has misspent our money over the years. I just mentioned some current ones that might ring a bell for folks. The rest are mostly mistakes we will just have to suck up and pay for. But we certainly do not have to repeat the mistakes of the past. And we certainly don’t have to cut critical services or the quality-of-life services that help make Juneau the wonderful community that it is. We know that there are more than enough funds squirreled away in various accounts in the city to fully fund what we need this year while we take our time to determine what our financial outlook will be in the future. It will not be fiscally irresponsible to step back and take a deep breath before we make any rash (i.e., stupid) decisions.

And most of all we need to stop irrational behavior. We don’t need to make knee-jerk decisions and raise our taxes or create new ones. Instead, we need to put our heads together and figure out not just what we really need to spend, but what revenue we are missing.

Asking nonprofits to collect sales tax is not asking them to pay the tax. It simply asks them to collect it from their customers. Giving developers low-interest loans is fine. Giving up 12 years of property taxes is not. Dragging out the permitting process just denies us collecting property taxes for years. A case in point is that the Áak'w Landing would have paid approximately $12 million in property taxes alone by now if it had been approved the first year. Plus, we would have been collecting the tideland lease payments. Over the last six or eight years our planning department has stalled numerous projects that finally gave up. Our hope is that now under new leadership it will be there to help build our community instead of stifling it. The private sector is ready to step up and do their share if we let them.

In closing, I think we all want a healthy, happy community, and I believe we are quite capable of having it if we quit name-calling, shake hands and work together. Let’s give it a try.

• Dave Hanna is a member of the Affordable Juneau Coalition.