Mill rate of 9.92 for coming year, down from 10.24 this year, in proposed CBJ budget set for release April 1
- Mark Sabbatini
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Half of 0.32 mill cut is due to property tax cap passed by voters last fall, other half is due to reduction in debt service; public feedback session for proposed spending plan set for April 15
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
A mill rate of 9.92 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, down from 10.24 this year, is in the first draft of the proposed city budget scheduled to be presented to Juneau Assembly members on Wednesday.
Half of the 0.32 mill reduction is due to voters approving a lower property tax cap — of nine mills instead of 12, with an exemption for debt service — in last October’s municipal election. The other half of the reduction is a debt service rate of 0.92 mills next year, down from 1.08 this year.
The existing 10.24 mill rate includes three non-debt categories (areawide at 6.4, roaded service area at 2.45 and fire service area: 0.31) totaling 9.16 mills — and since that’s over the cap, areawide is reduced to 6.24 mills while the other two remain flat in the proposed budget for next year.
The 9.92 mill rate, if approved by the Assembly, means property owners will pay $9.92 for every $1,000 in taxable value of their properties — meaning a total of $4,960 on a $500,000 home, which would be $160 less than this year. The city, in turn, is expected to collect about $1 million less in property taxes during the coming year.
A much bigger revenue loss — likely exceeding $10 million — is also expected due to sales tax exemptions on food and utilities voters approved during the election. Assembly members have said for many months significant cuts to recreational and other non-essential programs are likely as a result.
Preliminary budget hearings during the past several weeks have asked agencies and people who typically receive funds how they would adjust to a reduction, with 30% cited as a hypothetical number for some community grant recipients. Christine Woll, chair of the Assembly Finance Committee, said in an interview Saturday the actual extent of any such cuts will be determined after the draft budget is introduced Wednesday.
"The budget the manager proposes will have the same-size budget for those grants as was proposed last year," she said. "The Assembly will be going through a process of saying, ‘What services are we going to reduce?’ And that is an area where we may make reductions — to different partner agencies."
Major items in the $589 million total proposed budget include about $142 million for general municipal government, $165 million for Bartlett Regional Hospital, $15 million for Juneau International Airport, $59 million for capital improvement projects, and $20 million for water and wastewater facilities. The budget also provides $37.9 million of the Juneau School District’s $97.2 million proposed spending plan.
The overall proposed budget has a deficit of about $24 million, which CBJ has sufficient reserve funds to cover.
Public input on the proposed budget is scheduled during an Assembly Listening Session from 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 15 in the Assembly Chambers (which will also be online) and during a special Assembly meeting April 29. City ordinance states the budget must be passed by the Assembly by June 15.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
