Juneau voters passed some local tax cuts last municipal election. They were put on the ballot by a group of residents who said they were frustrated with how the city government spends taxpayer dollars.
But this election, a different group of residents is now seeking to play an Uno-reverse-card on one of those cuts.
“We just want to put it back the way it was,” said Pat Race, a local artist and business owner.
Race helped get Proposition B on the ballot. It asks voters whether to restore Juneau’s cap on the local property tax rate, also known as the mill rate, to the amount it was before the last election.
“There’s a cap on the mill rate in Juneau, and the cap now is nine. For my entire adult life up until last year, the cap was 12, and we’re just going to go back to that cap,” he said.
So what would that do? Well, Race says having a higher cap on the mill rate allows the Assembly more flexibility to respond to emergencies or other changes in funding.
“Raising the mill rate cap to 12 doesn’t mean the mill rate will be 12 tomorrow,” he said. “It just means that the city now has more latitude and more headroom to work with.”
He said Proposition B was prompted after the Assembly proposed cutting city services during its recent budget cycle, in response to the tax cuts last election.
Race also argues the lower rate cap only benefits property owners. According to census data, more than a third of Juneau households are renters, and landlords have no legal obligation to pass any savings from the change last year on to their tenants.
But not everyone agrees with that argument.
“I think that shows a fundamental mistrust of landlords or how landlords set rents,” said Angela Rodell.
Rodell is the former treasurer of the Affordable Juneau Coalition, an advocacy group that put tax cuts on the ballot last year. The group disbanded after that election, but Rodell continues to remain active in local politics. This election, she opposes reversing the mill rate cap.
“It’s disappointing that we didn’t have the patience to see through how these measures that passed in 2025 really affected the budget, and we still don’t know,” she said.
Rodell said the financial issues the city is currently facing are self-inflicted after years of poor financial decision-making by the Assembly. She said she hears from frustrated community members who don’t trust the municipal government.
“Because they feel like the city is just not listening or honoring through decision-making and really focusing on certain priorities,” she said.
Along with the three questions on the ballot are three open Juneau Assembly seats and two open school board seats. Voting is underway. The last day to vote in Juneau’s by-mail election is Tuesday, Oct. 6.
