School Board hopefuls spar over tax cap

September 25, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Mat-Su Borough School Board candidates grappled Thursday night over how to deal with the potential consequences of a recently passed borough tax-cap ordinance.

With the prospect that schools may lose $4 million next year, the issue took center stage at a candidate forum in the Wasilla-based Alaska Club.

All candidates agreed the tax-cap impact will be significant and, barring increased state funding, certain education programs will likely be cut or reduced.

Seat D candidates Mary Anderson and Pat Purcell called for general budgetary restraint and assessment of school district expenditures. Fellow Seat D candidate John Fairfield, however, didn't see too many places to cut the budget and predicted that barring more state funding, class sizes will increase.

"We're going to have to stack em' higher and deeper, and that's sad," Fairfield said. "I hope our community doesn't have to face that, but there aren't that many places to go."

While Seat E candidate Neal Lacy said reducing travel expenses was one way to cut the budget, fellow Seat E candidate Mike Chmielewski disagreed.

Chmielewski argued that the district didn't stand to save much from the roughly $260,000 transportation budget. Without more state money he said cuts are inevitable. He didn't pinpoint where cuts might occur. Those decisions, he said, need to involve the community and fellow board members.

Cheryl Turner, also running for Seat E, said she thought a performance-based budget would help pinpoint where to reduce programs, if needed.

She also mentioned the idea of using more telecommunication technology to teach individual classes simultaneously at multiple schools.

In response to a question of whether there were better ways to fund schools, beyond taxes, Turner was the only candidate to argue that schools already receive adequate funding.

Turner called for more consistent state funding but ultimately said schools receive enough money to educate students.

"I'm not one for saying that we need to put more money into this," she said. "I believe we have a lot of money going through our public schools. I think it just needs to be re-evaluated with a different look."

Chmielewski disagreed, maintaining that more state dollars are the answer to decreasing taxpayer burdens in the borough.

"Given the resources of the state, a significant increase in funding from the state is appropriate," he said. "The amount we receive from the state is significant and I thank the Legislature for doing that, however at this time, I believe it is insufficient to meet the needs of students in the Mat-Su Valley and other places."

Lacy, without elaborating, proposed a state education endowment as part of the answer.

Seat D candidates offered their own opinions on how to reduce borough taxpayer burdens.

Purcell suggested moving to a performance-based budget similar to what the city of Wasilla uses. Such a move, she said, might make the budget easier to understand and more accountable to public desires.

Anderson proposed joining co-ops with other agencies in an effort to save money by purchasing items in greater bulk.

Fairfield, however, didn't think borough taxpayers would get away from paying taxes for education.

"I wonder what the author of that question had in mind? Bake sale?" he said. "Let's not pretend that there is an entitlement out there that we are all each due that is tax free."

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266, or joel.davidson@ frontiersman.com.