Sales tax up in smoke

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly gathered on Tuesday night to discuss two highly anticipated ordinances, but with the active wildfires burning in the Mat-Su Valley, Mat-Su Borough Mayor Vern Halter decided to snuff out the heated debates before they could even begin. With one motion for postponement, the sales tax ordinance was removed from the agenda and therefore, the October ballot where it would have required a majority of the Mat-Su Borough voters.

“One of the reasons is poor timing right now on the sales tax that issue with the current fire situation,” said Halter.

Halter made a motion to remove Ordinance 19-092 and 19-093 from the agenda that passed without objection, meaning no members of the assembly spoke up for the proposed sales tax. At the start of the meeting, Halter asked MSB Emergency Services Director Ken Barkley to lead the Assembly members and audience, many of whom had gathered to discuss the sales tax, in the pledge of allegiance. Barkley’s sleep deprivation was alluded to multiple times during the meeting by Assembly members who had been in constant contact with him since the first fires broke out on Saturday morning.

“I really hoped I wouldn’t be having this conversation again so soon after Sockeye but we’re here and it’s just a heartbreaking tragedy for some people,” said Assemblywoman Tam Boeve. “Some of them did lose their homes. It’s sad, it is unbelievably sad. We’re going to need some help going forward. We really haven’t recovered from Sockeye completely. This is going to take a long time.”

Mat-Su Borough Manager John Moosey declared a state of emergency in the Mat-Su Borough, which led his report on Tuesday. Moosey said that the purpose of the declaration is to encourage the state to do the same, unlocking available Federal emergency relief funds.

“Unfortunately we have a lot of practice, unfortunately we’re getting good at making sure that we take full benefit of these Federal reimbursement programs,” said Moosey.

Moosey also informed the public that there was a meeting of more than three elected officials earlier that day. Due to the public meetings act, members of the Assembly are not permitted to gather outside of regular Assembly meetings to conduct business. A quorum of members attended the McKinley Fire meeting at Willow Elementary, but Moosey reported that there was no Assembly business discussed during the press conference and community meeting with Department of Forestry officials. Moosey also reported that after the Borough announced they would accept bark beetle kill spruce for free at their transfer sites, 1,188 customers had disposed of 260 tons of bark beetle kill spruce. Of those 1,188 customers, Big Lake had 446 customers drop off 1,500 cubic yards of beetle kill spruce and Sunshine had 84 customers dump 160 cubic yards of spruce. The fee waiver was an effort by the Borough at the beginning of the summer to encourage residents to clear their own beetle kill spruce, which has been the main fuel for the weekend’s wildfires.

Mat-Su Borough School District Superintendent Dr. Monica Goyette reported to the Assembly for the first time since school opened. Goyette said that the schools in the northern Valley affected by wildfires would remain closed to allow firefighters to battle the blaze and keep their students and buses out of danger. Goyette also informed the Assembly that the school board would be voting on the $28 million repair of Houston Middle School that would completely rebuild the classroom wing and repair the administrative wing and gym. The $28 million would incur a $13 million deficit with only $15 million expected to be reimbursed by insurance.

“Despite what has happened in our northern schools, it has been a very good startup in our core area for families and for students and I just want to thank all of our staff and our community for everything they do. I’m always reminded in a crisis how much the community comes together,” said Goyette.

While the members of the Assembly had been tending to the most immediate fire started within the state, Borough Lobbyist John Harris gave his report on the final vetoes from Governor Dunleavy. The Governor’s vetoes included the 50% of School Bond Debt Reimbursement that the legislature had added back into the budget along with $712,000 in Port bonds and $30 million in municipal revenue replenishment from the Power Cost Equalization fund. Harris warned that though there was current litigation over Dunleavy’s school funding cut earlier this year, next year’s legislature will come with another look at public school funding from the Governor’s office.

Todd Smoldon, Director of Dunleavy’s Mat-Su Office, followed Harris in reporting the Governor’s vetoes.

“He’s going to continue to work as diligently as he can with a legislature as a body that’s reluctant to follow the law on the PFD, but he is going to call another special session. It will be directly related to the PFD and a more long term fix,” said Smoldon.

Assemblyman Jesse Sumner had an interesting introduction to his own bill, Ordinance 19-090 which would limit Assembly members and the Mayor to a single term.

“I speak in opposition of my own ordinance. Upon further reflection and feedback from the public, I reconsidered and I no longer support it,” said Sumner.

Halter chuckled through the irony of Sumner’s objection to his own ordinance and sarcastically remarked at how close the unanimous vote was to fail the ordinance. Sumner’s Ordinance 19-100 would have established four-year business licenses at the same cost as the Borough’s current two-year licenses. Sumner argued that with the lack of administrative costs in issuing business licenses every other year, the Borough would actually save money. Deputy Mayor Matthew Beck, being one of several business owners on the Assembly that would feasibly gain financially from the passage of the ordinance, attempted to declare a conflict of interest. Mayor Halter ruled that Beck had no conflict, and the vote to postpone the ordinance indefinitely passed with Assemblymen Sumner and Ted Leonard opposed.