Wasilla weighs sales tax change

WASILLA — Public hearings set for tomorrow will consider changing the city’s sales tax and the fate of Meta Rose Square.

The city council will consider recommending a ballot measure effectively voiding temporary sales tax increase, which voters approved to funds the public library, and a public hearing will also determine whether the Meta Rose Square building will be sold. The Wasilla City Council meeting starts at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers.

If approved, voters could see the question on the ballot for the Oct. 3 regular election.

City staff says keeping the sales tax rate at 3 percent will raise an estimated $6 million per year. Provisions in the draft code unveiled with the agenda for the meeting this week set aside about 22 percent of the collected revenues for capital improvement projects.

The remainder of the revenue will be allocated to the city’s general fund, according to the documentation furnished with the agenda.

The city has numerous potential capital projects in coming years, ranging from airport improvements ($28 million for a combination of runway extension and apron improvements) to a new train station, to converting the old Iditarod elementary school into a public safety building. Several have been in the works for years, like a proposed downtown overlay district, but only recently developed capital cost components.

Opponents to the measure who spoke at its introduction in June generally said they had concerns about how voters would perceive the move to extend the sales tax increase.

Wasilla does not use property taxes to fill city coffers, meaning sales tax and federal and state grants constitute the entire operating budget. Declining revenues at the state level and reductions in federal spending have reduced funds available for grants, including those that would normally be spent for capital construction for Alaska municipalities.

The resolution for the Meta-Rose square building would use the minimum assessed value of about $1.8 million as the absolute lowest saleable value. Bidding would follow the guidelines of a sealed bid process.

The council also will introduce a measure for an August public hearing that would appropriate $13,000 to purchase an electronic display for the Curtiss D. Menard Memorial Sports Complex. The city has focused on events and marketing in an attempt reduce the unrecovered operating expenses associated with the sports complex, which costs the city hundreds of thousands per year to operate, according to city budget figures.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.