Borough assembly drives final nail in coffin for local gasoline tax

The Matanuska-Borough Assembly drove the final nail in the coffin for a proposed 7-cents-per-gallon gasoline to help fund public improvements. The vote was unanimous and followed results of the public advisory question appearing on the November election ballot.

Voters were heavily against the gas tax, with 9,145 voting to oppose a tax and 4,140 in favor. With that margin there was no surprise that the assembly said no at its Dec. 2 regular meeting.

The borough administration had made the proposal but the assembly earlier decided to put it to an advisory public vote.

However, this means that there will be more pressure on borough property taxes to pay for capital improvements like roads and schools. Borough manager Mike Brown had warned earlier that this will happen unless revenue sources are diversified away from dependence on the property tax.

State revenue to help support local school bond debt payments has become unreliable, Brown has said. This year it fell below what had been promised by the state, which meant that borough taxpayers have to pick up the shortfall. The borough is legally obligated to pay debt service on general obligations bonds.

Also, there has been little state revenue sharing in recent years for municipal roads but Mat-Su taxpayers have stepped up the plate to pay for these. Given lower oil prices there seems little prospect for improvement in the state’s finances and for additional revenue-sharing to local governments.

Meanwhile, the ongoing debate over books in the borough’s public libraries continued last Tuesday, taking up the bulk of public comments made in the required audience participation parts of the meeting.

Several speakers spoke to concerns about inappropriate books available to young people in public libraries others said the having the books in the library was likely illegal based on definitions obscenity in state law. Jim Fox, a local resident, said the assembly is responsible for how borough resources are used, and having what some feel as pornography in borough libraries should ended.

There was strong pushback from others speaking, however.

If books were pulled from library shelves due to political pressures it would no doubt lead to another lawsuit over free speech similar to that when the school district was ordered to pull books from school libraries.

The borough, which represents Mat-Su schools in litigation, lost that case at a cost of about $100,000, one speaker said. Another resident said the borough should go ahead and stimulate another lawsuit just to get the issue settled, however.

Library supporters were out in full force the meeting, however. Mary Robinson, an active public library supporter, said she doubts there are really books in libraries that are legally obscene. She said there is a minority of local residents pushing for books to be banned. “This is a manufactured moral crises to support a political and religious agenda,” she said.

Local friends organizations at several community libraries presented data on public use and described particularly the popular childrens’ summer reading programs in Wasilla, Sutton and Talkeetna.

Seniors’ programs, craft fairs and other community events are also popular in local libraries. At Wasilla’s library 80% of the users in the past year live outside city limits, so that its benefits extend out into the Mat-Su borough at large.

Palmer’s public library had 35,427 individuals visiting last year and 53,957 items in circulation, the assembly was told. Trapper Creek, on the Parks Highway, shows how a public library can have a big impact in a small community.

In other actions, the assembly adopted Resolution 25-096 setting out residents’ priorities for the borough capital improvements program for next year. This is just advisory to the assembly for its final action adopting the budget, borough manager Mike Brown.

The only change was to make improvements to the Skeetawk recreation ski area the top priority. Several people spoke at the Tuesday meeting in support of the ski area, citing its potential for economic development for winter recreation.

A public hearing was also set for proposed Ordinance 25-103, repealing the borough’s Mandatory Land Use Permit for property development in favor of a land-use review. This will be up for a public hearing and possible adoption at the assembly’s Dec. 16 meeting.