Final report out on city of Big Lake

ANCHORAGE — The Big Lake incorporation moved a step closer to completion Friday.

Staff for the Alaska Local Boundary Commission approved borders set during the preliminary report, which lopped 40 percent off of the original request over concerns about the distances involved. Big Lake residents had sought to incorporate all of Road Service Area 21 into what would become the valley’s fourth incorporated city.

Only minor adjustments existed between the preliminary report issued in January, and the final report issued Friday.

One was a change to the mill rate of the proposed city. The report had contained language recommending a rate of 3.0.

A mill rate is a method of calculating property taxes. One mill is equal to a dollar for each $1,000 of annually assessed property value.

The owner of a house worth $200,000 of assessed value would thus have a $600 property tax bill each year under the original mill rate, excluding other forms of property taxation.

Among the three public comments the commission received on the preliminary report, Jim Faiks, who is the listed representative for the Big Lake incorporation petition, wrote that the council had originally intended to raise the mill rate so that fees paid by property tax owners exactly matched the fees currently paid by the area’s residents.

“It has always been the objective of the petitioners to form and operate a limited city government with the road service funds paid as part of our property taxes to the Borough,” he wrote. “In this way there is no increase in taxes for property owners, but we believe better service.”

Another

Supporters instead recommended an initial mill rate of 2.57, Faiks wrote.

That means, in the example above, the property owner would instead pay $514, not $600.

In addition to the mill rate change, minor shifts in the proposed boundaries were suggested apparently in response to Faik’s request. The changes added lakes that were partially contained within the boundaries of the preliminary report, including sections of land surrounding Stephan Lake, Diamond Lake, and Papoose Twins Lakes.

Left unresolved for the moment is the question of Miller’s Reach, formerly part of Road Service Area 21, which would cease to exist with the incorporation. That would leave the households there without an apparent access to road maintenance services in the wake of incorporation.

The deadline to submit written comments on the final report is March 27. Written comments must be submitted to the offices of Local Boundary Commission staff at 550 W. Seventh Ave., Suite 1640, Anchorage, AK 99501-3510. Comments may also be submitted via e-mail to LBC@alaska.gov.

The commission will receive oral testimony at an April 15 hearing at 1:30 p.m. at the Big Lake Lions Recreation Center.

Following the commission ruling, incorporation will head to voters, according to the commission website. The elections are typically scheduled within 120 days of the meeting, according to the commission website.