Juneau will have a new seasonal sales tax beginning next year. And there will be some new faces on the Juneau Assembly, while the school board remains unchanged. That’s according to the final results for Juneau’s municipal election shared Tuesday night.
Juneau Assembly welcomes Mila Cosgrove, Joyce Niven and incumbent Paul Kelly
District 1 candidate Mila Cosgrove will join the Assembly for her first three-year term. She ran unopposed this election. While it’s her first time on the Assembly, Cosgrove will likely be a familiar face for many at City Hall. She previously served as Juneau’s deputy city manager.
In an interview, Cosgrove said she’s excited to be back at the Assembly chambers in her new role.
“I really appreciate everybody’s support in the community, and I believe that you know we’ve got some interesting work ahead of us as an assembly,” she said. “I’m looking forward to diving in and starting to wrestle with some of those tough issues.”
District 2 winning candidate Joyce Niven will also be making her debut on the Assembly this fall.
The retired housing developer emerged as the top candidate in the race against three other competitors. She led against the runner-up candidate, Malachi Thorington, by just under 660 votes, followed by Karla Hart and David Morris.
In a statement shared with KTOO, Niven said she’s looking forward to bringing the community’s concerns to the Assembly.
“I am looking forward to my first Assembly meeting, and am excited to begin the work to make Juneau an affordable place where everyone thrives,” she wrote.
Cosgrove and Niven will replace outgoing Assembly members Alicia Hughes-Skandijs and Christine Woll.
Incumbent Assembly member Paul Kelly will return to his area-wide seat after handily outpacing two competitors this election.
According to the final results, Kelly won with more than 60% of the vote. He beat second-place candidate Brad Sapp by more than 2,700 votes and third-place candidate James McCants by over 5,000 votes.
In an interview, Kelly said he feels energized by the results and is excited to begin his second term.
“It feels encouraging. It feels like the people are saying that they approve of the job that I’m doing,” he said. “They approve that I am dedicating myself to the public with my office hours and my newsletter, and that they are liking the thoughtfulness that I approach my decisions with.”
Kelly previously served a term on the Juneau school board.
School board members Britteny Cioni-Haywood and David Noon return for another term
Incumbent school board members Britteny Cioni-Haywood and David Noon won the two open seats on the Juneau School Board.
They outpaced the third candidate running for a seat, Christine Johnson, by more than 1,800 votes.
In an interview, Noon said he thinks the results show that voters are paying attention to what he and Cioni-Haywood have accomplished during their first term.
“I think experience is really important. We know what we’re doing, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job,” he said. “It just kind of affirmed that we’ve been doing a pretty good job, and voters seem to recognize that to the extent that people pay attention to the school board.”
Cioni-Haywood agreed and said she’s excited to serve another term. She said she is already looking ahead at issues she and other members will have to tackle in the coming year.
“We still currently, with a BSA [base student allocation] amount, have a fiscal cliff coming in fiscal year 2028, and so that is concerning, and we’ll need to start dealing with that,” she said.
This will be both Noon and Cioni-Haywood’s second three-year term on the school board.
Temporary sales tax renewal and seasonal sales tax pass; property tax rate cap increase fails
Juneau voters supported implementing a new 1% seasonal sales tax and renewing a 3% temporary sales tax. However, voters shot down a proposal to raise the property tax rate cap.
According to the final results, yes votes on Proposition C — a 1% seasonal sales tax — passed by more than 1,400 votes.
Proponents say the 1% tax bump would take advantage of 1.7 million cruise passengers that come to town each summer and boost funding for the city’s recreational facilities and programs. Opponents say the tax is unnecessary and burdensome to residents.
Proposition A sought to renew a 3% temporary tax in Juneau, which has been in place since 1983. Results show that more than 80% of voters supported it — it passed with 7,840 votes.
Proposition B sought to reverse a tax limit passed last election that lowered the cap on the local property tax rate, also known as the mill rate. But it ultimately failed, with votes against the proposition leading by just shy of 500 votes.
Pat Race is the chair of Juneau Yes, an advocacy group formed to support Proposition B and C. He said he is happy with the results of the election and the message it sends to the city.
“We had a bunch of people that wanted to see recreation facilities, indoor and outdoor recreation supported in the community,” he said. “I think even if we don’t have the mill rate cap change, the 1% seasonal sales tax really helps to send the message to the Assembly that we want those facilities open and we want them publicly owned and operated.”
Voter turnout
In total, 10,027 registered voters had their ballots counted in this year’s municipal election – that’s just over 36% of registered voters in Juneau compared to last year’s nearly 37%.
The Juneau Assembly will meet for its reorganization meeting to swear in new members on Monday, Oct. 26. New school board members will be sworn in at its next regular meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
KTOO Education Reporter Jamie Diep contributed to this story.
