Mill tax rate stays stable

June 1, 2007

Will Elliott/Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Homeowners will see some tax relief thanks to a borough assembly decision this week.

The assembly finalized the new year's budget at a special work session Wednesday night. Some $2.1 million in state money will go toward local tax deductions. For owners of a $230,000 house, that means $117 less in taxes.

&#8220Through fiscal constraint and concern for the taxpayers, we were able to keep (the mill rate) the same,” assembly member Cindy Bettine said.

Early indications had been that schools would be underfunded next year, forcing the district to cut teachers, high school sports and kindergarten at some schools. The borough also faced repairing a crowded, crumbling animal shelter.

State revenue sharing money contributed $3.2 million, along with $1.4 million in savings that the assembly set aside last year, allowed for cutting taxes without cuts to schools or deferment of repairs to the shelter.

Assembly member Michelle Church likened the tug-o-war of the budget process to choosing between puppies and kindergartners, according to a borough press release. Both are well served by the new budget, Church said.

The assembly approved a $5 million upgrade for the shelter. To meet the rising costs of a growing student population, funding for schools is up $4 million over last year. Of that, $1.6 million will fund early intervention programs in all subjects across the district. Assembly member Rob Wells pushed for that funding.

&#8220I think (the investment) will pay huge dividends through the individual's whole education career,” Wells said.

New school district superintendent George Troxel said he was pleased with the outcome.

&#8220We'll be able to continue with much the same program we had in past years,” Troxel said.

The assembly also budgeted money for nine and a half new employees, pay increases for some emergency services personnel, and improvements to borough libraries.

Bettine called the budget a huge accomplishment.

&#8220It's not easy being the fastest growing area in the state without industry to help support our tax base,” Bettine said.

That tax base's contribution is calculated by a mill rate, which is the percentage of a property's value that the owner pays in taxes. One mill equals one tenth of one cent. Thus, the current rate of 9.644 means property owners would pay a little less than 1 cent per dollar of their property's assessed value.

Those property values have been going up for some time. Home prices have doubled in the borough since 1996, according to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. As more people move to the Valley there is more competition for property, so prices rise. According to a borough press release, assessments went up an average of 11 percent in 2006.

Higher property values, however, do not automatically mean higher taxes, because the borough operates under an areawide revenue cap. The cap was put in place in 2005 by the assembly.

The difference between what the cap allows and the borough needs was made up this year with state revenue sharing and the borough's savings from last year.

Assembly member Lynne Woods of Sutton championed the idea of putting revenue sharing money aside last year.

&#8220I'm very pleased we have created a budget that has taken care of many needs in our community,&#8220 Woods said. &#8220And it's done in a way that is efficient. With help from our state, we are able to reduce our property taxes.”

Mat-Su Mayor Curt Menard agreed.

&#8220All in all it was a great night,” he said.

Contact will elliott at

352-2252 or will.elliott@

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