Proposal calls for property tax increase

PALMER — If Mat-Su Borough Manager John Duffy’s budget holds, and likely it will not, the average Valley property taxpayer can expect to pay $368 more next year.

Duffy presented his budget Tuesday during a work session of the borough assembly. The increase raises the area-wide mill levy from last year’s rate of 9.98 to a new level of 10.79.

Using the borough’s estimate, that one mill equals $7,188,500 in revenue, next year’s proposed budget totals out to $77.5 million.

Duffy usually starts his budget presentation with an overview of what’s going on with borough home values. This year, those numbers were grim from a borough revenue perspective.

From a high in 2007, the average home value has decreased every year, seeing it’s sharpest decline in 2009 when prices dropped 4.9 percent.

The biggest piece of Duffy’s budget, as it is every year, was education, which soaks up 75 percent of borough revenues.

Duffy’s budget proposed bumping the borough’s contribution to schools by about $800,000 over last year. That would make the borough’s contribution $46.9 million.

All year the president of one of the district’s unions has been urging the borough to raise its taxes to the highest level possible under the borough’s revenue cap and give the schools more funding.

“We’re at 58 percent of the cap,” said Rick Byrnes, president of the Classified Employees Association at Wednesday’s school board meeting. “That’s where the problem lies.”

Superintendent George Troxel told the school board that his best estimate is that the borough’s increase leaves the district about $7 million or so short of what it had requested.

But Troxel emphasized that the school district’s budget is a moving target. For instance, district officials still don’t know what premiums for teachers’ health insurance are going to cost. It could be a big hit, he said, since some projections have that increase at around 20 percent. On the other hand, the insurance premiums for non-teaching employees ended up being cheaper than projected.

“Those are all things that will have to be worked out and looked at. They all have dollars attached to them,” he said.

And, he pointed out, the budget is far from final.

“Last year, if you will remember, the borough manager recommended a dollar amount and the assembly funded under that,” Troxel said.

The school board didn’t express strong opinions, but did advocate for making a stronger case to the assembly.

“They need to know that if we’re not funded to this full amount, we’ve talked about six teachers possibly, but with increases in health benefits in other areas, it could be more than six non-tenured teachers,” being laid off, said school board member Ole Larson.

Board member Mike Dunleavy, referencing $200,000 Duffy proposed to spend on Nordic ski trails at Hatcher Pass, drew applause with his statement.

“I’m having a difficult time increasing taxes for ski trails and a couple of other things over schools. I just want to make that public.”

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