The Juneau Assembly has some big financial decisions to make in the coming months. That’s because the city faces a multimillion-dollar budget hole that could result in cutting some city services in order to stay afloat.
Along with figuring out how to balance the city’s budget, the Juneau Assembly will need to decide in the coming months whether a temporary tax and two bond debt proposals will appear on October’s municipal ballot.
“I think at the end of the day why we put things on ballots are to give voters the choice. If they don’t want to fund these things then they won’t. We don’t lose anything because of that,” said Christine Woll, an Assembly member and finance committee chair.
At a finance committee meeting Wednesday night, the Assembly discussed whether to ask voters to renew a 3% temporary sales tax currently in place, along with putting two bond packages on the ballot to fund critical repairs and upgrades to Juneau schools and the city’s water and sewer systems, which proponents say are sorely needed.
Juneau currently charges 5% in local sales taxes. That’s made up of both permanent and temporary taxes.
Of that 5%, 3% is a temporary tax, which Juneau has had in place for decades. Voters approved extending it for five years in 2021. It expires in mid-2027. The money collected from that 3% tax currently goes toward numerous city services, like police and fire, street maintenance and snow removal, and general government operations.
City Finance Director Angie Flick said the money is fairly flexible.
“Really your roads, drainage, retaining walls, sidewalks, stairs, and we’ve been doing some utility work in that realm as well,” she said.
At the meeting on Wednesday, some Assembly members were hesitant about whether to put the questions on the ballot. That’s because tax questions dominated last fall’s election and because the city is in a time of budget uncertainty.
When it comes to bonds, Juneau voters approved adding nearly $23 million to the city’s debt in 2024 for public health and safety improvements. But last year, the Assembly narrowly voted against putting school and water and sewer systems bonds on the 2025 ballot because of how crowded the ballot was already.
Assembly member Paul Kelly said he is still undecided on whether he wants to put them both on this year’s ballot, but he’s interested in approving at least one.
“I’m interested, for sure, in the general obligation bond for schools,” he said Wednesday.
Despite the initial discussion, the temporary tax and bond packages still need to go through a few committees before the Assembly votes on whether to put them on the ballot. This year’s municipal election is on Oct. 6.
