Juneau Assembly eyes expanding senior sales tax exemption

Seniors in September 2015 pack Juneau Assembly Chambers to oppose a scaling back of a senior sales tax break. The bright yellow pins say “We vote.” (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins/KTOO)

An initiative to expand the senior sales tax goes before the Juneau Assembly on Monday. Assembly members who campaigned to broaden the exemption for seniors, now make up a five-person majority.

Seniors over 65 currently pay no sales tax on utilities like electricity, water and heating fuel. This latest initiative, brought by Assemblywoman Mary Becker, would expand exemptions to loosely defined household and personal care products like cleansers and toilet paper.

It would also expand the exemption for food at the supermarket.

“This would expand the definition of groceries that would include prepared or hot foods that are ready-to-eat and that are sold by a grocery store. And so, not those that are sold by a restaurant,” Finance Director Bob Bartholomew said.

To help offset the cost, the initiative would cut the annual rebate to needy seniors from $325 to $300. Still, the city projects it would lose up to $90,000 in annual sales tax revenue.

Juneau businesses are wary.

“The cost of this, in our opinion, far outweighs relative benefit,” said Craig Dahl, executive director of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce. He said more types of businesses would need to keep track of sales to seniors. “And we just don’t think that this is a logical decision and it’s a burden on the small business community.”

City Manager Rorie Watt’s staff report doesn’t take a position but recommends the Assembly deliberate further.

“The concerns raised are that this ordinance change would create new administrative burdens on businesses,” Watt wrote.

But the exemption has a better chance to pass now than ever before. Here’s why: a group of seniors organized over the sales tax issue have been active for the past two years.

A special interest group called Juneau Seniors Supporting Seniors spent at least $2,800 in this year’s campaign. It supported Assemblyman Rob Edwardson who defeated incumbent Debbie White. Its volunteers have also supported four other incumbents.

“Seniors worked very hard on the campaigns of now-Mayor Ken Koelsch and also on the Assembly campaigns of Mary Becker, who was one of the votes for seniors, as well as new incoming Assembly members, Beth Weldon and Norton Gregory,” organizer Tom Boutin told KTOO last month before the election.

With the election of Rob Edwardson, that’s a five-member majority that received seniors’ support. Now it’ll be up to these five to choose between a skeptical business community and a key constituency that helped put them in office.

Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska

Jacob Resneck is CoastAlaska's regional news director based in Juneau. CoastAlaska is our partner in Southeast Alaska. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

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