Petitions for mill rate cap, sales tax limits get necessary signatures; in-person voting measure falls just short
- Mark Sabbatini
- Jun 30
- 3 min read
Nine-mill cap will be on Oct. 7 ballot; Assembly has 45 days to pass a sales tax exemption or put item before voters
Juneau voters will be asked this fall if they favor a property tax cap of nine mills, and likely will be asked about exempting food and utilities from local sales taxes after the city clerk’s office announced Monday that petitions for those items met minimum signature requirements.
However, a third proposal by the group circulating the petitions that would have made in-person rather than by-mail elections the local default option fell 15 votes short of the 2,720 needed, according to the clerk’s office.
"We’re really pleased that the clerk certified both of those (tax measures)," said Angela Rodell, a member of the Affordable Juneau Coalition, in an interview Monday evening about the initiatives her group sponsored. "I think they're both really important efforts."
"We missed the poll-based (elections) by 15 signatures…And to come that close it's obviously really disappointing, but I think overall I think this just tells you how important these issues are for Juneau and that people want to be heard on these issues. And so we look forward to the next phase, which is working to educate voters and turning out the vote, and getting these tax initiatives passed."
Juneau Assembly members and city administrative leaders have said the coalition’s tax proposals could cost the city $10 million to $12 million a year, which would result in cuts to non-essential items such as recreation programs and facilities. Supporters of the initiative say the city has ample cash reserves set aside for facilities such as a new city hall — which voters have twice rejected — and Assembly members are continuing to provide millions for other projects residents don’t consider high priorities such as a new convention center.
The three petitions sponsored by the coalition all had more than the minimum necessary total of signatures — with the 2,720 representing 25% of the turnout in the most recent regular municipal election — when they were turned into the clerk’s office on June 17. The group could have spent two additional days gathering signatures before the deadline for turning in their petition books, but Rodell said at the time they felt they had a comfortable margin for the three measures.
A letter sent Monday to the coalition from Municipal Clerks Beth McEwen and Breckan Hendricks stated a total of 2,890 signatures were submitted on the election measure, "and we were unable to certify 185 of those." Among the possible reasons cited were issues with voter registrations and/or addresses, duplicate signatures and people leaving a section blank.
The two measures getting the necessary signatures are:
• A charter amendment setting a property tax cap of nine mills, rather than the current limit of 12, that will appear on the Oct. 7 municipal election ballot. That does not include additional property taxes “required to serve general obligation indebtedness.” The current mill rate is 10.04, of which 1.08 mills are for debt service. The proposed budget for the next fiscal year starting July 1 raises the mill rate to 10.24. Assembly members say they are concerned about higher costs and an anticipated loss of federal funds. The Assembly would have to get voter approval in a regular or special election to set a higher mill rate.
• An initiative exempting “essential food” and residential utilities from local sales taxes, which currently total 5% (a 4% fixed tax and 1% temporary tax voters have approved every five years for decades). That measure is being forwarded to the Assembly, which will have 45 days to enact a substantially similar policy or place the question on the ballot.
The Assembly is also considering putting a tax question on the ballot that would implement a seasonal sales tax that’s higher between April and September to maximize revenue from cruise ship passengers. Instead of the current 5% year-round rate, purchasers would pay 7.5% during high periods and 3.5% during low periods.
Rodell said the proposed seasonal sales tax does not meet her definition of a substantively similar measure compared to the sales tax exemption her group is seeking.
"That’s a whole different issue about whether or not we should shift the sales tax over the seasons," she said. "That's a different kind of conversation about who to tax, how to tax, when to tax, and it also makes the sales tax permanent, which is also something we don't discuss at all. We just want to make sure that the sales tax gets taken off of essential groceries and utilities to help Juneau families."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
