Revenue sharing should be considered, at least for short term

Frontiersman editorial board

The Alaska Municipal League is asking the state to pony up in terms of revenue sharing, and return to what the organization sees as a more equitable distribution of state resources. The league represents municipalities around the state.

The call for a return to revenue sharing has been a common theme in recent years. The state provided nearly $150 million to municipalities at one time, but now provides nothing.

Instead, municipalities have been left to provide services, such as road maintenance and public safety, for themselves. That has proven to be particularly burdensome to smaller cities where the tax base is already stretched thin, and where other sources of revenue are scarce. Some smaller communities respond by cutting police protection or reducing other critical services.

In the Mat-Su, residents have been loath to support increased sales taxes, and most Alaskans do not support income taxes. In our community, the response to the need for increased revenue has been largely heaped upon the backs of property owners in the form of raised property tax rates.

Alaskans have grown accustomed to living in a state with large coffers -- and with U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens -- where the burden of infrastructure and services can largely be carried by the state and federal government.

Washington is tightening the purse strings, and some of our legislators tell us the general fund won't endure the growing expectations placed upon it. Many Alaskans are not convinced the fiscal sky is falling, and they believe much more can be done with the permanent fund before we talk seriously about taxes.

In the meantime, municipalities, especially small cities, are feeling the crunch of rising expenses and inadequate revenues. Talk about the permanent fund and the looming fiscal crisis has largely been theoretical so far, but the struggles in cities across the state are all too real.

It's time for a serious fiscal plan in Alaska. Legislators must reach an agreement about the long-term economic outlook for the state, and formulate a program to ensure no Alaska community has to look under the cushions for spare change.

Until that plan is in place, we should return to some kind of revenue sharing to ensure our smaller cities can remain viable. Healthy communities across the state are in everyone's best interests.