Remember the SVA

Back in the 1980s, thousands of private land owners and commercial entities banded together to create the Susitna Valley Association and defeat the clear-cut logging debacle that would have only produced about 50 measly jobs.

My name is Dane Wagner Sr. and I have been in the aircraft welding repair business for more than 25 years. I am now in aircraft exhaust system manufacturing dealing with customers worldwide. The common denominator in all of my business dealings is quid pro quo, something for something. That’s not the case with the Mat-Su Borough taxing remote properties. It’s more like something for them and nothing for us.

I am writing this to request all the land owners band together and create our own borough — the Susitna Valley Recreational Borough (SVRB). The applicable Alaska statutes can be found at alaska.gov by typing in local boundary commission. I believe the applicable parts are 3AAC 110.160 through 3AAC 110.210. We already have very discernible boundary lines we are all probably very familiar with — Deshka, Big Susitna, Yentna and Kahiltna Rivers. The boundaries could be modified to include additional land owners.

We, as private and commercial property owners, are getting reamed again. I have performed welding repairs for both aircraft and marine applications for a big portion of the Susitna Valley. I know this remote area has contributed in a very big way in building local economies as well as state tourism to make them what they are today. The majority of our building supplies were probably flown in or brought in by boat. My son and I spent 10 years and many thousands of dollars in flight and building expenses building our lag cabin,

I recently received the tax appraisal and should have known something was up. I’m sick and tired of the government pencil-neck geeks deciding what they think our property is worth to fill their coffers.

Enough is enough.

They need to get real jobs and find out what it’s like to actually have to produce a product in order to make ends meet. The appraisers said the borough doesn’t have to obey the legally pasted “No Trespassing” signs, in the typical arrogant government tone. They trespass and measure our structures assuming incorrectly an awful lot of things. I would be willing to bet the appraiser who arbitrarily placed a value on my building has no experience in log structures, and am willing to have a public debate to prove my point.

The property owner should be present for remote property and structure valuation. We need to be supplied at least three other properties sold in the area with similar layout and the same type building construction so we have a fair and equitable comparison. The appraisals should be performed by a licensed appraiser and be accepted by local banks or we need to secede and watch the crumbling of the infrastructure that we help fund in a big way and receive absolutely nothing in return.

If the Mat-Su Borough is not willing to outlay a little money to employ a licensed appraiser then, in my opinion, its appraisals are not worth the paper they’re written on. Most of us bought land from the state or private owners and not the Mat-Su Borough — but, don’t you know, here they come again putting their greedy hands into our back pockets and ripping us off for more money with absolutely nothing in return. My reaction to that is to snap their hand off at the wrist so they’ll never try again.

We really do need to exhaust every way to secede. Let’s band together again and vote in local representatives who will benefit all of us and say no to the Mat-Su Borough pushing their big dead weight around intimidating property owners, one by one, to acquiesce to their desires. The time has come to stand up.

Dane Wagner Sr. is a Valley property owner.