A citizen’s initiative to repeal property taxes in the City of Craig failed by a wide margin on Tuesday. The measure would’ve slashed about a fifth of the city’s revenue.
Craig is a city of about 1,200 people on Prince of Wales Island. The ballot measure to repeal property taxes from the year 2025 was soundly defeated.
The vote was about 50 in favor to 200 against. A pair of residents had gathered 75 signatures to bring the issue to a vote.
“You know, there were fewer people that voted for it than signed the petitions,” Craig Mayor Tim O’Connor said Tuesday evening.
He’s proud of the city’s services which include water sanitation, a police department, fire and ambulance crews, snow plowing and a city parks and recreation department.
“And all of this comes from the taxpayers of Craig and I think everybody realized what we have and they weren’t about ready to jeopardize it,” O’Connor said. “Plus, it funds the schools and the students’ sports activities and a lot of other things, you know, that property tax goes a long way to cover those things.”
There’s nearly 60 pending absentee ballots making the Craig city council and school board races too close to call.
