The Juneau Assembly will discuss potential city service reductions at a finance committee meeting on Wednesday night. Ideas for reduction include possibly closing down city facilities like the Mt. Jumbo Gym or the downtown pool.
The meeting will largely revolve around a summary created by city staff that outlines more than 40 city services that could be on the chopping block. The list also includes the number of Assembly members who are in preliminary agreement to reduce or cut funding to each specific service or program.
The Assembly is tasked with making these decisions as the city faces an estimated $10 to $12 million recurring budget hole. That’s after voters passed a tax exemption on food and utilities and a cap on the city’s property tax rate last fall. The Assembly has until July 1st to finalize the city’s budget before the next fiscal year begins.
All nine Assembly members expressed support for two service and expense reduction ideas.
One is to sell or defer planned maintenance at the Mt. Jumbo Gym facility. Another is to reduce local grants to some extent. After that, six of nine Assembly members supported reducing pool services and the Dimond Park Field House, potentially by shutting them down. There was also a majority support to reduce spending on the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.
The Assembly is also looking at ways to increase city funding, possibly by raising utility rates or selling facilities like the Mayflower Building or the Eagle Valley Center.
All proposed service reductions or increases to revenue are just that — proposed. The Assembly will discuss the ideas on Wednesday night and likely several more times before the budget is finalized, and will take public comment on any reductions before voting. Residents can give public testimony on April 29 and June 6.
In a recent city budget survey, residents chose maintenance of streets, supporting schools and public safety as most important to fund in the budget. On the other end, residents’ lowest priorities for funding were tourism management, climate action and energy efficiency, and economic development.
The Assembly is expected to approve the final budget by June 15.
