In the first night of budget deliberations Wed., the Matanuska –Susitna Borough Assembly glided through big topics: funding education an additional $1.5 million, trimming the budget reserve fund and thereby freeing up some $3 million, adding four new staff positions, and investing in outdoor recreation at Butte, Jim Creek, and Hatcher Pass, and more.
The adopted amendments are not final yet. The Assembly is deliberating a second night tonight, May 8, on the proposed $403 million budget as it works toward setting a mill rate or tax levy for property owners in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
The Borough School District will receive its increase but through a different funding path. Instead of the expected three percent increase in funding, as adopted in several recent budgets, Deputy Mayor Ron Arvin’s amendment passed that will, instead, return 100 percent of the District’s unassigned funds. Arvin said the 3 percent increase was in line with the forecasted amount of the lapsed funds. He said District officials were okay with the plan as more State funds were appropriated to the District than expected. A concern over a 3 percent increase affecting the Borough’s revenue cap is at the root of the idea. $51,291,720 is in the budget for the School District.
Assembly Member Vern Halter brought forward an amendment that would trim the $28 million forecasted to be in the budget reserve account. A reserve policy holds merit with credit rating agencies such as Fitch and Standard & Poor when they assign the Borough a rating.
“I think $25 million is adequate,” Halter told his peers. “This is coming out of your mill rate. Taxpayers are paying this as part of their mill rate, so that would hold that steady too on that amount.”
A secondary amendment by Assembly Member Jim Sykes adjusted the rate to 22.2 percent to hold the budget reserve fund to $25 million, which the Assembly agreed on and adopted.
The Assembly passed what was referred to as the “Manager’s bundle,” 13 pages of subtractions and additions to the presented budget. Among them, new staff: an assessor, a land management specialist, a right of way acquisitions officer, a civil construction project manager, and the deletion of a vacant position in Administration. Even so, the budget amount was less than originally presented.
“In this budget, there’s $300,000 in the couch cushions,” Manager John Moosey told the Assembly and Mayor of his recent edits to the earlier presented budget. The mill rate presented is nearly flat, though we’ve proposed to spend more money in this budget than in last year’s, Moosey said.
Community Development Director Eric Phillips defended his plan to add a position to the Land Management Division. No additional funds are needed for the position due to Phillips' rearranging. Assembly Member Vern Halter and Deputy Mayor Ron Arvin agreed that the plan was sound.
Salmon also asked his peers to dedicate $60,000 toward marketing a ski area at Hatcher Pass, specifically for downhill or alpine skiing. Nordic skiing has new trails and a $1 million chalet, but alpine has no infrastructure other than an access road and parking lot.
“Gov. Knowles gave us 3,800 acres at the time under the presumption that we were building an alpine ski resort…the hope has never diminished,” Salmon said.
Deputy Mayor Arvin suggested a secondary amendment that added $40,000 for subdividing land and “peeling off Borough land to the private sector.” A master plan lays out real estate development as a funding mechanism for recreation infrastructure in the Government Peak Recreation Area. The secondary amendment passed with Member Sykes voting no.
Sykes also asked for $151,398 for the Jim Creek Recreation Area design and site prep.
Community Development Director Eric Phillips presented a sheet of funds, skimmed from different projects amounting to $226,624 to pay for Sykes’ two suggestions.
Deputy Mayor Ron Arvin asked that the project name add the word “motorized.” Assembly Member Steve Colligan said he wants to see some motorized development. Colligan’s amendment increased the amount for the Jim Creek project from $151,398 to $215,398.
Assembly Member Colligan asked his peers to adjust the appropriation to $50,000 for Youth Court. They agreed. Colligan said we worked hard to have the Legislature appropriate $100,000 to Youth Court as well.
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