Mat-Su assembly gives a break on penalties for inadvertent late payment of property taxes

Mat-Su Borough assembly members voted last Tuesday, Dec. 21, to give a break to property taxpayers inadvertently missing the deadline for payment .Currently, the borough charges a penalty of 5 percent of the tax owed if the payment is one day late.

“This mainly hits senior citizens on fixed incomes, and 5 percent penalty if a bit much,” said assemblyman Tim Hale, who sponsored the action.

“Sometimes, people plan to make payments and then world events or issues in their personal lives intervene and the payment becomes just a few days late. Lowering the amount of penalty for the first 30 days strikes a better balance between the borough’s need to collect timely tax payments while recognizing that some people may accidently fail to remit payments to the borough on time,” Hale said in a written explanation.

Stephanie Nowers and Jesse Sumner, also on the assembly, joined Hale in sponsoring the measure.

The ordinance passed unanimously. It lowers the late penalty to 1 percent for the first 30 days. For those who continue to be late, a schedule of escalating penalties still applies to a maximum of 15 percent after 60 days.

In the written text explaining the measure Hale said imposing a smaller penalty for the first 30 days of delinquency it could encourage people to follow up and make the payment, even though late, before the penalties start to accumulate to higher amounts, Hale said.

In another action, the assembly voted unanimously to approve a less-than-fair market sale of 40 acres of borough-owned property to the Meadow Lakes Community Council, a nonprofit, for community use and recreation.

The deal is contingent on borough approval of gravel extraction on an adjacent 80 acres of borough property that contains an estimated two million tons of sand and gravel that would be mined over 25 years.

The borough would contract for the gravel removal and would be paid royalties, municipal staff told the assembly. Seventy five percent of the revenue would go to the borough’s general fund with the remaining 25 percent paid into a “permanent fund,” that supports management of borough lands.

Gravel extraction near residential areas is a hot-button issue in the Mat-Su, but in this case the community council has voted to support the gravel extraction permit as part of the overall agreement.

Patti Fisher, Secretary of the Meadow Lakes Community Council, said an existing 40-acre parcel acquired by the council several years ago and used for senior citizen facilities and recreation has been a big success.

The parcel is now used for youth sports, picnic areas and playgrounds for children. It is open “24/7” and no fees are charged, Fisher said. Maintenance is by volunteers and expenses amount to about $6,000 a year, which is covered by grants.

An additional 40 acres will allow development of hiking and ski trails and other amenities, she said.

Steve Charles, of the Mat-Su Trails and Parks Foundation, said the development of subdivisions and roads in recent decades has left fewer open areas for development of recreation trails.

A similar 40-acre tract in Willow used for community recreation has brought a wide variety of benefits, he said.

In another action Tuesday the assembly voted to approve a land-use plan for the Jonesville Public Use Area, a tract of 14,574 acres of state land and 40 acres of borough land near Sutton and Mile 57 to Mile 62 on the Glenn Highway.

The state Legislature designated the state land near Jonesville as a public use area in 2018 but provided no funds for a management plan. With no planning or management the area has been misused with illegal trash dumping and uses for target shooting, the assembly was told Tuesday.

Borough staff worked with community groups in the Sutton area from 2018 to 2020 to develop a draft plan with public meetings subsequently held in Sutton, Wasilla and Eagle River. The plan was also endorsed by the borough’s parks and trails advisory committees.

One other action, among the assembly’s more routine measures, was an acceptance of $800,000 in FEMA funds to do repairs on the borough’s Port MacKenzie, which was damaged in the 2018 earthquake.

The borough had received $196,900 earlier from FEMA to pay for the design and engineering on the port repairs. Assembly members votes to accept the funds.

The most controversial action on the assembly’s agenda was an action to support the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, in moving from Phase 3 to Phase 3 in planning for a 100-mile industrial use and public access road that would open up a large area, essentially one third of the borough’s area, that is presently inaccessible to year-around surface access.

If built, the road would extend from the Port MacKenzie area west to the Yentna Mining District where Nova Minerals, an Australian mining company, is exploring a significant gold deposit.

Mineral concentrates from the mine could be trucked over the road to Port Mackenzie for shipment by ocean. The company would pay fees to AIDEA to defray costs of the road, and to the borough for use of the port.

Parts of the road could also be available for public use, AIDEA has said.

However, the road has promoted criticism, and on Tuesday assembly members listened to many objecting to the project.

The assembly wound up voting to approve AIDEA’s action with only assemblyman Hale objecting. The borough administration is reported to be planning an public involvement and education program.

AIDEA’s phase three involves a certain amount of further data gathering but also the filing of federal Section 404 wetlands permits for the project, the main federal authorization needed.

AIDEA would finance and built the road after reaching agreement with Nova Minerals on fees for its use, contingent on the company proceeding with development of a mine.