Palmer approves ballot proposition for higher seniors’ tax exemption, new Cedar Hills emergency response center

Palmer’s city council gave final approval July 26 for the siting of a new emergency services facility near the Cedar Hills neighborhood, and for a voter proposition on the October ballot raising the property tax exemption for senior citizens and disabled veterans.

The council also endorsed the formation of a new Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO, to increase local control on federal and state transportation projects in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

While the council okayed the new Cedar Hills emergency facility it had been met with pushback by some local residents who expressed concerns over noise and additional traffic, council members said at the meeting.

There is already designation for an emergency medical center at the location, which is on land owned by the Mat-Su Borough. What the council did in its ordinance approval was a zoning change to add firefighting response and telecommunications to the approved uses of the property.

Palmer city manager John Moosey said a key advantage is to have overnight sleeping facilities for firefighters, which will speed their responses to emergencies.

Moosey said the city planning department has done an analysis and report on the project and that a public hearing has been held. Noise problems can be resolved by guidelines as to when sirens are turned on.

One advantage of having a fire station at the location, council l members said, is that it will result in an increase in water pressure for the Cedar Hills neighborhood because water service facilities for the fire station will have to be improved.

There have been complaints from local residents that the current water pressure is low. The ordinance approving the zoning change passed unanimously.

In another action by the council the senior and disabled veteran property tax exemption would increase from $150,000 of assessed value to $300,000. The state currently requires municipalities to exempt $150,000 of value but many local governments go beyond that.

The benefit of the increased exemption to a homeowner will be about $900 a year.

City manager Moosey told the council that there are 1,860 homes in Palmer with 468 of these owned by senior citizens. The number of homes owned by disabled veterans is not public because federal confidentiality rules restrict information given out for people with health conditions and disabilities.

The higher exemption will have only a minor effects on city finances, however, because most of Palmer’s income is from its sales tax, Moosey said.

Also, new people moving to Palmer tend to be younger, which over time dilutes any adverse effect of the seniors’ exemption, a council member said. The ordinance approving the higher exemption passed unanimously.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO, is being formed because a core part of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the Fishhook-Wasilla corridor, now qualifies as urban rather than rural under U.S. Census guidelines. That has happened because of population growth in the area.

It allows establishment of a third MPO in the state. Anchorage and Fairbanks now have MPOs giving local guidance on project funding. This allows the allocation of federal transportation funds to be decided by a local board rather than the state transportation department.

The borough and cities in Mat-Su will have seats on the board along with a local tribe but the members will be appointed by the governor.

The original plan was to the borough and Wasilla to have two seats each, Palmer one seat and one seat for a tribal representative. At the July 26 Palmer council meeting it was reported that the borough now wants four rather than two seats.

This has ruffled a few feathers since the original plan has been out for discussion for a long period, council members remarked, but the member decided to not make a last-minute protest and to let the governor decide the matter.

Mat-Su’s new MPO is to be functioning early next year. The MPO’s board will decide on allocations of about $10 million a year.