Big Lake incorporation vote underway

BIG LAKE — Big Lake residents deciding whether or not to become the borough’s fourth incorporated city will have to sort through a host of conflicting claims about the cost of that move.

Opponents generally say incorporation would result in elevated taxes, and cite figures from nearby Houston. Supporters of incorporation say the city numbers add up, and that incorporation would give greater representation to one of the fastest-growing areas of the fastest-growing regions of the state.

The pro supporters portrayed incorporation as an inevitable part of life in a growing area. State population projections show Big Lake’s population is expected to double by 2025 to almost 7,000 people, officials at the meeting said. Borough officials have also been upbeat about the prospects of Port MacKenzie to transform the financial picture of the borough, and local residents have pushed to keep port traffic out of their downtown.

At a debate on the issue held on Saturday, city council candidate Sandy Baker compared the move to a coming-of-age.

“We just say that nobody said you need to stay at home forever and let Mom and Dad take care of you forever,” she said. “There comes a point in time when you leave home and you step out on your own. That’s kind of what we’re looking at doing here. We’re ready to step out on our own.”

Budget figures had been subjected to extensive testing on the part of local boundary commission, which wouldn’t have approved incorporation if it weren’t economically feasible, said city council candidate Chris Hoskinson. Tax revenues are expected to hit $1.4 million. An estimated $787,000 would go toward services. About $200,000 is set aside for a prospective part-time city manager, a full-time city clerk and a part-time bookkeeper. Incidental costs for travel, elections, and other costs would total an additional $100,000.

“That leaves $300,000, roughly,” she said. “So yes, we can afford to do this.”

Incorporation opponent Butch Moore compared making a new city to buying a high-end car: desirable, but too pricey, like a Chevy Corvette he wanted to purchase at age 18, when he moved out of his parents house.

“I found out that I could buy this new Corvette,” he said. “My payments were going to be $400 a month. My insurance was going to be $2,000 a month.”

Budget figures did not include an amount set aside for road improvements or debt service, Moore said. Incorporation is expected to keep the tax rate the same, but that depends on the borough maintaining animal control and library services. If the assembly rejected that proposal, a prospective city council would have no choice but to raise taxes.

“We will immediately on day one have to raise taxes,” he said. “I feel that there’s been some misrepresentation as far as no new taxes and no increase in taxes. We simply can’t do it without increasing taxes.”

Moore pointed to Houston’s finances for comparison. Officials there put most city employees on 30-day furloughs in June and July (Moore repeatedly said Houston “closed its doors,” though city officials disputed that claim, saying services had been reduced, but not eliminated during the furlough) to compensate for about $35,000 in unpaid property taxes. Houston’s 2015 budget showed $931,535 in revenue (including some revenue from the state and borough) against $931,365 in expenditures.

Opponents also claimed a city council would be empowered to raise city taxes. Alaska statute requires second-class cities to raise property taxes by referendum.

Incorporation supporters bristled at the suggestion that they could or would want to raise taxes. Population increases and increased property values would allow the city to keep tax rates steady while increasing revenues, they said.

“I am a single woman,” Baker said. “I have one income, that’s it. I have nothing else to fall back on. To say that I want to raise taxes or that I would be in favor of that is very much mistaken, because I do live paycheck to paycheck.”

Supporters, like Greg Quinton, repeated assertions that incorporation was about representation, and that voters would need to decide whether they wanted greater control or not.

“I’m all in,” he said. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You the people let your voices ring through our ballot. Your voice will determine what actually happens.”

The Division of Elections mailed ballots to local voters Oct. 5. Unofficial election results will be posted to the Elections website Oct. 27. Officials were set to certify the election Nov. 13.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.