Watch this story above or listen below:
Juneau’s 2025 municipal election is just around the corner. Candidates for Juneau Assembly and school board are on the ballot this year, alongside three questions.
Ballot propositions one and two aim to reduce the tax burden on individual residents, but officials say that will come at a cost to the city’s coffers. Ballot proposition three attempts to boost city tax revenue by increasing the sales tax rate when cruise tourists are in town, then lowering it again in the off-season.
Christine Woll is a longtime Juneau Assembly member and chairs its finance committee.
“I actually think this is probably the most consequential election we’ve had locally in the 15 years I’ve been here in Juneau,” she said. “Each of these will have a big impact on the city’s budget and ability to fund services in our community.”
An advocacy group called the Affordable Juneau Coalition gathered enough signatures this spring and summer to place propositions one and two on the ballot. Angela Rodell is the treasurer of the group and formerly ran the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation. She said the propositions are designed to make Alaska’s capital city more affordable.
“We have a very high cost of living, and that impacts almost everybody, except, obviously, the wealthy,” she said.
Proposition 1
Proposition 1 seeks to cap the local property tax rate, also known as the mill rate. One mill is equal to $1 per $1000 in property value.
“Everyone who owns property in Juneau pays property tax to the city based on the value of their property,” Woll said. “This would be capping the rate at which the Assembly can charge them for that.”
Right now, the city caps the mill rate at 12 mills. But, if voters pass Proposition 1 this election, that cap would be lowered to nine mills.
Now, that change could lower property taxes for property owners. But it also means the city would take in less revenue each year. For each dollar the city collects in property taxes, a bit more than 50 cents goes toward education and a little under 40 cents goes toward city services.
The rate cap wouldn’t be immediately devastating to the city’s roughly $140 million in annual discretionary revenue. But, Woll said over time it could substantially influence the city’s ability to fund the services residents usually expect.
“It results in about a $2 million loss to city revenue every year, which is significant,” she said. “But when I think long term, it’s maybe less about the money and more about the city’s ability to respond to changing environments.”
The city estimates that owners with property assessed at half a million dollars or less would save about $80 per year in property taxes if the proposition passes and their home value stays the same.
Woll said the proposition’s passing will be most beneficial to Juneau’s wealthiest residents and large commercial land owners — not low income people.
“That’s kind of the question that’s being asked this year is, ‘do you think we should be focusing on making this a community that has services for our lowest income people, or do you think that we should cut taxes for the wealthiest in the community to make things more affordable?’” she said.
Rodell disputes that, and argues the change will force the Assembly to focus its spending on needs versus wants — something the Affordable Juneau Coalition thinks it hasn’t been focusing on.
“I think we can figure out how to tighten that belt a little bit,” she said. “I think it’s really imperative that the city show its residents that they care about affordability and want to really focus on the things that make this community very livable.”
Proposition 2
Proposition 2 would also shrink the amount of revenue the city brings in each year. The proposition would exempt essential food and residential utilities from local sales tax. Right now, the city taxes food and utilities like just about everything else – at 5%. But if the initiative passes, it would drop to zero percent for everyone, regardless of their income.
Economists say that taxes on food hit low-income people the hardest. Juneau Assembly member Neil Steininger is an economist, and he supports the concept.
“We don’t have the supply chains that can provide us lower-cost food, like a lot of areas down south do,” he said. “That really impacts your day-to-day living, because you got to eat every day.”
But, he warns that the current 5% tax on food and utilities brings in a combined $10 to $12 million in revenue to the city annually. He said removing that tax would leave a serious hole in the city’s budget.
“That’s more than just a little belt tightening, you know, that’s more than just, you know, buying less paper clips and buying less Post-it notes,” Steininger said. “That’s really looking at the overall spectrum of services we provide and choosing some to not provide.”
Proposition 3
That potential cut to services is why the Assembly put Proposition 3 on the ballot. It asks voters whether to implement a new seasonal sales tax system next year. They’re hoping it would recoup some of the revenue lost if the property tax or food and utility tax propositions are passed by voters.
“The seasonal sales tax, basically will make up for that $9 to $12 million revenue loss by shifting the tax burden from residents to our summer visitors,” Woll said.
This proposal would raise sales taxes in the summer months and lower them in the winter. It’s aimed at taking advantage of the roughly 1.7 million summer cruise ship tourism visitors that come to town each year. Other nearby Southeast towns like Ketchikan, Sitka and Skagway have similar seasonal tax structures in place already.
Juneau currently charges 5% in local sales taxes. That’s made up of both permanent and temporary taxes. They help pay for general government costs, voter-approved projects and community interests.
If voters pass Proposition 3, shoppers would instead pay a 7.5% tax from April through September and a 3% tax from October through March.
“We have a lot of out-of-town visitors, and we have a lot of economic activity from non-residents in the summer,” Steininger said. “It allows us to shift some of that tax burden away from residents, making it even more affordable for individual residents in Juneau.”
But Rodell said she’ll be voting no on the measure and the Affordable Juneau Coalition is advocating against it. Her opinion is that it won’t actually save money for year-round residents and businesses.
“It needs to go back to the drawing board,” she said. “They need to do a better job about defining how it’s going to help the residents of this community.”
The last day to vote in Juneau’s by-mail election is Oct. 7. Ballots will be mailed to registered voters Friday. Completed ballots can be returned by mail, in city drop boxes starting Friday or to city vote centers starting Monday.
More information about when and how to vote can be found at juneau.org/elections.
Find the latest local election coverage at ktoo.org/elections.
