Issues rehashed

Taxes, tourism, mayor's raise mulled

April 24, 2007

By Russell Stigall/Frontiersman

WASILLA - The flames of three hot debates were refanned Monday night, as the Wasilla City Council convened a special work session to reconsider the previously rejected items.

A gray-haired crowd packed the council chambers for the meeting, hoping to get some relief in the form of a city tax exemption.

They were there to speak in favor of city council member Mark Ewing's proposal to exempt seniors and disabled veterans from taxes on the groceries they buy. Council members voted down Ewing's proposal at their last council meeting.

The action memorandum Ewing proposed called for the city attorney to research the impacts of this tax exemption. Though Ewing's proposal failed it did have support from other council members to discuss the idea more in the work session.

Gordon Kler, resident of Senior Campus in Wasilla said the grocery lists of many

seniors on fixed incomes could be stretched if city taxes didn't first take a bite.

&#8220Seniors do not pay much in taxes for groceries, but they are on fixed income, so it matters,” Kler said.

Kler said he would like Wasilla to be known as a town of love, honor and value for its senior citizens in the Valley.

The tax exemption would be a good benefit for seniors, senior Colleen Cottle said. Cottle said seniors no longer have the state-supplied longevity bonus, and she said she does not believe it will come back.

&#8220Wasilla City Council needs to worry about charity at home,” Cottle said.

Susan Colligan, Wasilla finance director, said her department does not know the impact the proposed tax break would have on the city's 2008 budget.

&#8220How are we going to implement this exemption without hurting our fiscal year 2008 long-term goals and initiatives?” Colligan asked.

She said the tax exemption is basically a social program and that a social program should not be implemented through sales tax exemptions.

&#8220It is a tax transfer and really not an exemption,” she said.

Colligan said the city is tight on funds, and giving seniors a break on their butter would cost the city too much cheese.

Just to research the impact of the tax would cost the city about $30,000.

Also on the agenda was a proposal to increase the salary of the mayor.

At the April 9 city council meeting, council members voted down a resolution to increase the mayor's salary by $6,714. Though current Mayor Dianne M. Keller would benefit from the raise if it goes into effect in July, the discussion of the raise focused more on the position of mayor and not Mayor Keller herself.

Monday's work session included room for discussion of the mayor's raise. However, other than in citizen comments, the issue was not addressed during the meeting.

During comments, Dianne Woodruff said she compared state economist Neal Fried's 2005 numbers on Mat-Su household median income with the median income of Wasilla mayors. The raise would give $80,000 to Wasilla's mayor annually with a city car and benefits, while entire

Mat-Su families gross $56,857 annually.

In the less formal setting of the work session, the city council made progress on the third issue - its efforts to allocate $50,000 for a visitors bureau to promote Wasilla.

During the budget process in January, the council agreed to put out a request for proposals for a firm to develop a visitors bureau. The request for proposals went to six firms. Only the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce responded with a proposal.

A four-member council voted March 12 to reject the chamber's proposal. Council members Mark Ewing and Marty Metiva were not in attendance. The chamber's proposal was in response to a request for proposals from

the city.

Nancy Hall, district manager for Red Cross, told the council about a friend of hers visiting Wasilla and mistaking Fred Meyer for the entire city.

&#8220I'm really in favor of getting publicity out there and making a reason to stop in Wasilla,” Hall said.

Hall also said tourism would bring jobs.

&#8220Service jobs may not pay much, but they bring tourists and put your city on the map,” Hall said.

Council member opinions on the proposal varied,

however.

Council member Metiva said a $39,000 city-funded study showed Wasilla needed a tourist bureau.

The window to attract 2008 tourist dollars is already shrinking, Metiva said.

&#8220Tourism is a form of revenue we really need to look at,” Metiva said.

Ewing said the council has already set aside $50,000 and requested proposals for the bureau. He said tourism is a good investment and cited a recent Alaska Travel Industry Association statistic that every dollar spent on Alaska tourism marketing returns an estimated $168.

&#8220We need to bring this back to the table and get the ball rolling,” Ewing said.

Council member Steve Menard said the Mat-Su Borough already has a bed tax.

&#8220Unless we establish something on our own, we cannot go to the borough and ask for some of the bed tax money,” Menard said.

Menard also said the city put out its last tourist brochure more than 20 years ago.

Contact Russell Stigall at

352-2267 or russell.stigall@ frontiersman.com