Just how calm are the waters?

To the editor:

In reading the recent “Mayor’s Corner” column written by Mayor Verne Rupright regarding the city of Wasilla’s budget, a few things came to mind.

The mayor has done a great job of trimming the non-personnel operating budget during his tenure. In the 2014 budget presented to the city council, the mayor and his staff have trimmed 2.5 percent from non-personnel operating costs from what the city council approved last year. This year is not the exception. During his administration, the mayor has continually challenged his department heads to look for ways to tighten their belts and look for savings.

Unfortunately, in FY2014, personnel costs are budgeted to increase by 6.1 percent from FY2013. When those personnel costs are brought into the equation, operating costs are increasing at a faster rate than revenue. This trend is not lost on the mayor.

The mayor has brought forward ordinances to increase the sales tax by 25 percent, or roughly $3 million, on two separate occasions over the last year (Ordinance 12-23, 13-04). Additionally, nearly identical proposals were brought forward by council members with the help of the mayor’s deputy administrator office (Ordinance 13-06, 13-09), making a total of four times in the last year that this administration has pushed for raising the sales tax by 25 percent. This money would go straight to the general fund to support increased operating costs. On all four occasions, this effort failed to pass muster with the majority of the city council. It is my belief that if there is a need to raise the sales tax in order to meet operating costs, it better be the last resort — not the first.

I’m left scratching my head. If the “boat is sailing on calm waters” with the crew fed and services provided, why is the captain insisting on the sales tax increase? Let’s get the city operating as lean as possible before we go looking to increase the tax rate.

Brandon Wall

Wasilla City Council Seat F

Editor’s note: The 25 percent tax increase councilman Wall mentions is half of an overall 50 percent proposed increase. The mayor’s and another similar council proposal called for an overall 1 percent increase of the city’s sales tax rate (from 2 percent to 3 percent), with half going to the general fund and half to a capital improvement fund.