Supporters say they have enough petition signatures to put tax cuts, voting changes on fall municipal election ballot

Advocates say cuts will make Juneau more affordable for residents; Assembly member says loss of revenue will affect popular community programs

Sponsors say they have the necessary signatures for three local ballot petitions to lower the cap on property taxes, eliminate sales taxes on essential food and utilities, and reestablish an in-person preference local elections.

Petition books are scheduled to be turned in to the Juneau municipal clerk’s office on Wednesday, two days ahead of the deadline to collect signatures, Angela Rodell, a member of the Affordable Juneau Coalition that’s sponsoring the measures, said Tuesday.

The clerk’s office will have 10 days to determine if each petition has at least 2,720 signatures — 25% of the total cast in last year’s local election — necessary to make the ballot for this year’s Oct. 7 election. Rodell said organizers are confident they have the necessary totals and there’s no need to continue trying to do so up until the city-imposed deadline.

“All our books are full,” she said.

Each of the petitions fell short of the necessary signatures when submitted May 30 after an initial 30-day collection period, according to the clerk’s office. The petitioners were then given an additional 10 days starting June 10 to collect the remaining necessary totals.

The three measures supported by the coalition are:

• A charter amendment setting a property tax cap of nine mills, rather than the current limit of 12. 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 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).

• An initiative reversing an existing ordinance “requiring that mail-in voting take priority over in-person voting.” Instead, if approved, the amendment would require all local elections to be poll-based “unless otherwise directed by the Assembly.”

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.

Supporters say those amounts would generate additional revenue that would allow food and utility sales tax exemptions. Opponents on the Assembly have expressed concern a seasonal sales tax, which has been discussed and rejected in previous years, would place an undue burden on locals making large summer purchases such as boats and materials for major home projects.

Rodell said a primary concern of the Affordable Juneau Coalition — as its name suggests — is city leaders have taken a series of actions that are putting residents in a financial squeeze. Residential property assessments rose significantly a few years ago, for example, and Rodell said this year the Assembly approved a 5% increase for each of the next five years in utility rates in addition to the mill rate hike.

“People just feel like they can't catch a break,” she said, echoing what she said was a common refrain by residents signing the petitions.

The seasonal sales tax proposed by the Assembly isn’t the answer, Rodell said.

“I think people get confused about the increase during the summer and what that might mean for them,” she said. “Plus my understanding of the seasonal sales tax proposal is that would make the sales tax permanent and we're not proposing to make the sales tax permanent. We're just proposing that we exempt groceries and utilities from whatever sales tax they collect.”

A counterargument is the coalition’s tax proposals will cost the City and Borough of Juneau between $10 million and $12 million a year, Assembly Member Wade Bryson said in an interview Tuesday. He said it’s a common refrain of people to claim government is wasting money, but city budget and other leaders go through an extensively detailed and months-long process crafting spending plans.

“I want to make sure that we're applying the taxes to match the level of services and the city's really good about doing that,” he said.

A $12 million budget hit would mean major reductions to facilities such as Treadwell Arena, Eaglecrest Ski Area and local libraries, Bryson said. He noted there was significant objection from many residents when a last-minute effort was made to cut $112,000 from Jensen-Olson Arboretum, resulting in all 170 supporting members expressing their objection.

“It just has catastrophic rippling effects that everything fun and all the public-facing things of the city would be the things that are the most penalized,” he said.

• Mark Sabbatini can be contacted at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.