Group formed for port bond support

MAT-SU -- They're not a political action committee and don't call them a "friends" group -- they've no interest in planting flowers or picking up trash at Port MacKenzie. They just want to help get a deep-water dock built and throw open the doors to future development at the borough's port district.

Former Big Lake assembly member Jay Nolfi and former port commissioner Noel Woods and his wife Jean Woods got together recently and created "Port MacKenzie NOW!" a ballot measure, single-issue group formed for the sole purpose of getting Proposition 9 passed by borough voters on Oct. 7. Proposition 9 deals with $10 million in state general obligation bonds that would fund construction of a deep-water dock at Port MacKenzie. The money would pay for a deep-draft dock that could handle Panamax-sized vessels, or some of the largest shipping vessels in use. It would also fund road upgrades to Port MacKenzie Road.

According to House Bill 528, the dock won't be paid for by borough taxpayers. In that bill, the state commits to 100-percent payment of the bonds. Although the state is in a fiscal crunch, Noel Woods said he feels comfortable the local legislative delegation will come through with the funding as promised.

"Our delegation is powerful enough to say the money is there," Woods said. "When our delegation is 100-percent behind it, I feel pretty secure."

If the state legislature reneges on its commitment and refuses to allocate the $900,000 yearly payment for the project, information from the borough shows simply adding the money to the mill rate would tack on 0.22 mills, or $22 for every $100,000 of assessed value.

Nolfi, who's chairing the group, said she believes the benefits outweigh the cost. She's been supporting the port project since the 1980s. The financial situation of the nation, she said, in addition to Alaska's fiscal troubles, make the need for alternative sources of revenue for the borough ever more apparent.

"One of the reasons why we really need to create a commercial and industrial tax base is, it would put us in a much better position for fully funding education," Nolfi said.

Jean Woods pointed out that, according to information from the Mat-Su Borough Finance Department, the average borough taxpayer pays $1,680 in borough taxes, based on an average assessment of $141,070. Of that amount, about half, or $820, goes to fund the borough's contribution toward education -- a $32.3 million tab. One household, therefore, can pay $820 toward education, while the borough alone pays out $2,379.85 for one child's education. Additional federal and state dollars are paid out on top of that.

"That's why we need some commercial and industrial development," Jean Woods said.

Commercial and industrial activity is already going on at the port, Noel Woods added, although it hasn't yet turned into the economic engine he foresees. The port's barge dock has been in use for about two years, bringing in about $10,000 in the last fiscal year and about the same amount the year prior in docking and wharfage fees.

As a single-issue group, Port MacKenzie NOW is able to take unlimited contributions from a wide range of donors, including corporations, unions and government employees. Nolfi and the Woods' are also making the rounds to community councils, city councils, chambers of commerce and other groups in hopes of encouraging people to go to their polling place on Oct. 7, and to vote "yes" on Proposition 9. They're also hoping to obtain resolutions of support for the measure. They haven't run into much opposition in the Valley, they said, especially when people understand that the state will be making payments on the bonds.

"The bottom line is, it's a buy one, get one free deal," Nolfi said. "We constructed and paid for the barge dock and now this one is 100-percent reimbursable."