Wasilla budget stays mostly unchanged

WASILLA — Wasilla city officials say the city’s next two-year budget will look similar to the one the city is currently operating under.

Wasilla’s dependence on a 2 percent sales tax — the funds account for roughly 63 percent of total revenues — is likely to continue for at least the next two years, according to a preliminary budget set to be introduced this week. If dire predictions about the local effects of slumping oil prices come true, those effects could be felt in early 2018, said city finance director Troy Tankersley. Part of the reason is city officials don’t yet know how severe any potential downturn in the Alaska economy could be.

“Let’s hope that it doesn’t go back to the 1980s,” Tankersley said.

In the event of a downturn, the city would have to take corrective actions, Tankersley said.

“The last thing we’d want to do is lay anybody off,” he said. “We’d be looking for different projects or programs that we can wait on.”

In the event that local commerce does dry up, Wasilla maintains a six-month cushion of accumulated savings in the General Fund and each of the city’s three Enterprise funds, according to budget documents.

Sales tax collections are expected to top $14.1 million by 2018. The general fund balance is expected to close out the 2016 fiscal year at the end of June at about $26.7 million, the 2017 fiscal year at about $27 million, and the 2018 fiscal year at about $27.7 million.

Public safety remains the city’s single largest expense, at about 38 percent of total annual expenditures for both 2017 and 2018.

City budget documents show the city will spend about $23.6 million over the course of the 2017 fiscal year, which begins July 1. Projected expenditures for the 2018 budget year total about $23.4 million. If the city’s projections hold, a roughly $500,000 uptick in personnel and benefit costs between the two years will be off-set by slightly larger decreases in operations, capital projects and city debt payments.

Property owners will once again pay no property taxes for the next two years, and in the event that a serious oil-related

The capital projects list over the next two years includes about $1.5 million in new infrastructure spending in 2017.

The lone exception is an anticipated $54,000 grant for the continued operation of the Youth Court program, which relies on state, borough, and local city contributions to keep operating.

In general, the budget is a balance, said mayor Bert Cottle.

“Nobody wants less services,” he said. “What people say is ‘I want the maximum services for the most affordable tax rate.’”

Public participation has also been low at a series of review meetings held this month.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Monday’s regular city council meeting at 6 p.m. Tentative additional meetings are scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. and May 2 at 6 p.m. All meetings are scheduled for the City Council Chambers, located at 290 E Herning Street in Wasilla.

More information, including the full budget presentation, is available at www.cityofwasilla.com.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.