Parnell wants Mat-Su to get $66M in 2013

MAT-SU — Depending on how you look at it, Gov. Sean Parnell either doubled the amount he requested for Mat-Su projects or slashed it by a third in the draft of his budget released Thursday.

Each year, the Legislature works on a budget for the following year. So the document Parnell released is actually what he wants to see in the fiscal year 2013 budget. And it’s just a starting point. When lawmakers convene at the start of the year, they’ll add and remove projects.

In his fiscal year 2013 budget, Parnell proposes $66.39 million in Mat-Su projects and an additional $110 million in borrowed money for the Point MacKenzie rail extension.

Last year, he included just under $30 million in his budget, a tally that didn’t include $65.7 million he wanted for work on the Susitna River hydroelectric dam. The year ended with $147 million heading to Mat-Su, not including Susitna, which the Legislature didn’t touch.

The Valley was the only Alaskan community Parnell targeted with a press release when he announced his budget. Headlined “Gov’s budget funds Mat-Su road improvements,” the release notes how much money the governor would like to see heading to the Valley. He reserved particular attention for Knik-Goose Bay Road.

“We all know that Knik-Goose Bay Road can be a dangerous corridor and the Mat-Su voters have stepped up and said we are going to fund changes and safety enhancements, and I think given that the Mat-Su voters have already stepped up with that bond package the state is going to partner with them and make KGB road a safer corridor,” Parnell said in a taped statement attached to the press release.

Parnell has targeted $10 million to upgrade Knik-Goose Bay Road, one of the most dangerous in the state.

The bond package he referenced includes $32 million for various road projects spread across the borough. Some are in the Knik-Goose Bay area designed to relieve congestion there. But Knik-Goose Bay is a state road and the state’s responsibility to fix.

Bonds were passed with the understanding that the Mat-Su Borough wouldn’t borrow any money unless the state matched the money, which Parnell did to an extent, earmarking $20 million to match the bond package.

Another project to get the $20 million treatment would reconstruct the Glenn Highway from Mile 34 to Mile 42; essentially, that piece between the interchange with the Parks Highway and the Old Glenn Highway in Palmer.

Another closely watched part of the budget was in the Department of Corrections section. Parnell put in $5 million to furnish the Goose Creek Correctional Center in anticipation of its opening.

Though legislators fretted last session about whether the prison would open, saying the costs to run the facility were too high, Parnell didn’t seem to have much doubt in the speech he made when he released his budget.

In citing places where the operating budget grew he noted that it’s going to cost $29 million more to run the prison system with Goose Creek online. That was the only place the prison showed up in the text of his speech posted online.

The idea of borrowing to fund the rail extension came up last month when the borough sat down to hash out its priorities for legislative funding. Borough manager John Moosey said at the time that he’d floated a bonding idea with the state but hadn’t gotten much traction.

The last two road projects in the budget are a $900,000 appropriation to realign the Glenn Highway at Mile 49 and $1.1 million to improve Lucus Road.

Other projects include a $300,000 appropriation to upgrade the dam on Lake Lucille and $1.14 million to upgrade the Alaska State Fair’s sewer system. The budget also contains a $4 million appropriation for Mat-Su Services for Children and Adults.

Aside from funding for area parks and fish management, the rest of the appropriations are maintenance projects and hit everything from the Palmer Correctional Center to the Alcantra Armory to the Point MacKenzie Correctional Farm and various other state facilities.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.