Isn’t it worth $5.20?

To the editor:

I was very concerned to read that Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss plans to cut the budget for Valley nonprofits. The state of Alaska chooses the nonprofit organizations that get grants through the Human Services Matching Grant Program, and then pays 70 percent of the total requested. The borough needs to match those grants or the nonprofits won’t get any money at all from the program.

Mayor DeVilbiss wants to veto $376,000 in matching funds because he worries taxpayers might be evicted from their homes if they can’t afford the taxes.

I was curious to see how much these funds would actually cost us. According to the Finance Department at the borough, we would only be taxed .052 mills for this. For each $100,000 of property that we own, that translates to $5.20. I cannot see that anyone would possibly be evicted from their home for not paying not being able to afford $5.20 per $100,000 property evaluation.

Please encourage the mayor to reconsider his plans to cut this. The nonprofits that depend on this state money and would lose the entire grant if the matching funds are vetoed are important to our Valley way of life. They include the Mat-Su Service District of the American Red Cross of Alaska that provides disaster response services in the Valley, Wasilla Food Pantry, Mat-Su Services for Children and Adults, CCS Early Learning and more.

Isn’t it worth $5.20 to you to keep this funding in the budget?

Shonti Elder