What are you willing to pay for?

MAT-SU -- It's time to vote -- do you know what's on your ballot?

Valley voters will be asked to head to the polls Tuesday to cast a ballot for the Mat-Su Borough mayor, assembly, school board and several city seats. Most voters are at least aware of a few of the candidates running for office -- it's hard to travel around the Valley without seeing at least one campaign sign. But in addition to voting for elected officials, voters will be asked to choose whether they want to take on more than $86 million in additional debt.

Well, sort of. If every bond proposition is approved, borough property owners could be paying $196.23 more in property taxes per $100,000 of assessed property value. That's if the state doesn't hold to its pledge of helping fund education projects and the Legislature refuses to appropriate the 100-percent funding approved in House Bill 528, a bill put forward by the Senate Finance Committee relating to port and harbor projects around the state. The bill included a provision for $10 million in funding for deep-water dock construction and road upgrades at Port MacKenzie.

The only bond proposition that would be funded fully by borough taxpayers is the parks and recreation bond, totaling $5.375 million. Taxpayers, if voters approve the bill, will pay $12.40 per $100,000 for a laundry list of projects, including upgrades to Lake Lucille park, a five-field complex off Bogard Road, outdoor fields at the Wasilla sports complex, a $1.5 million contribution to go toward a Palmer ice arena, toilets, trails and viewing areas at Matanuska River Park and more.

The remaining six bond propositions can be matched by money from the state at different levels, varying from a 100-percent match on the $10 million Port MacKenzie deep-water dock bond to a 60-percent match on bonds for, among other things, two charter schools, a career center, a nutrition service facility, a Wasilla-area elementary school and a Palmer alternative school. If each bond proposition passes and the state and the Legislature agree to fund the full 60, 70 or 100 percent of the bonds, borough voters would pay $74.61 per $100,000 of assessed property value for the $86 million in projects.

Voters won't know for sure whether the state will reimburse the projects at their projected levels until Dec. 15, when Gov. Frank Murkowski releases his draft budget to the Legislature.

With budget cuts looming at the state level, some say the borough may be taking a significant risk. The state has indicated support for some of the borough propositions, but the reimbursement funding isn't yet factored into the governor's budget. Cheryl Frasca, director of the governor's office of management and budget, said putting the money in the budget before it's approved would be placing the cart before the proverbial horse.

"We're still in the process of working with all the departments on what our proposed FY05 budget will be," Frasca said when asked whether the school-related bond propositions were factored into the state's budget as of Oct. 2. "But from a policy point of view, that's probably the last place we want to cut. My understanding from the governor is, one of the last places to cut is K-12 education funding."

Sen. Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, serves as the co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Valley residents may have heard Green recently on the radio, encouraging support of both the school and port bonds. She said there's little reason to think the bonds, if passed by voters, won't be receiving a full match from the state.

"Since I've been in the Legislature, there has never been any bond issue that has not been fully funded," Green said. She added that, during her tenure, the Legislature has funded the state match on school and other bonds passed -- and brought state shares up to date where they had previously lapsed.

Green did add the caveat that the school projects previously bonded for were ones the state's education department said met the need criteria for state funding. Previously, projects such as the career center and nutrition services center would not have qualified for state funding.

"She was instrumental in allowing our district -- and every district in state to bond for projects that would normally not qualify," said Kim Floyd, public information officer for the Mat-Su Borough School District. "We're very grateful and we're hopeful that they're successful -- this opportunity may not come along again."

Generally, Floyd said, the state takes into account the need for a new school by looking at data such as enrollment, building capacity and capacity at other like schools in the area. Typically, projects that qualify for state match must be primarily used by students. But Green co-sponsored Senate Bill 11 in 1998, which allowed the borough and other districts to bond for projects that are important to the district, but may not be schools. When voters approved Proposition C, which allowed school construction in rural areas, in the 2002 statewide ballot, they also approved of the measure to allow non-student facilities.

"We got the change in there … and made it so that it didn't just have to be for classrooms," Green said. Projects like the career or voc-tech center, she said, are needed, but difficult to justify when compared classroom-to-classroom with traditional schools. But a project that's normally even less likely to receive a state match -- particularly at 100 percent, she said, is the port bond project.

If state officials say the education funding will be covered, where does that leave funding for Port MacKenzie?

In a letter sent Sept. 19, Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Barton sent a letter to Green indicating his support of the $10 million port project.

"The Murkowski administration is supportive of the port project and the private investment it will bring with family-wage jobs and property taxes to pay for schools, roads and other critical services," Barton wrote. "Approval of the port bond for improvements at Port MacKenzie is consistent with Governor Murkowski's efforts to bring increased revenues to state and local governments while creating good-paying private-sector jobs … To have a company willing to invest over $11 million to bring the 'Vision for the Valley' into sharper focus is an opportunity that we should seize."

The $11 million investment Barton mentioned would be made by NPI LLC, a company that recently negotiated an agreement with the Mat-Su Borough that would see the deep-water dock built quickly and have it equipped with a conveyor to carry gravel, wood chips or other freight to ships in the Knik Arm. NPI agreed to pay $3 million for long lead-time items that could delay the project for a construction season if not on hand when the project begins. They've also agreed to invest $8 million in the conveyor system which they would operate for port users at a reasonable fee. The borough assembly recently approved a tentative user agreement for the deep-water dock and conveyor system, which hinges on approval of the 100-percent reimbursable bond.

"That's way out there," Green said of Barton's letter. "That, to me, is a great indicator of the level of support."

Green said she's excited that the borough is able to partner with the state for projects needed in the community.

"I just think it's a great way for a district like ours to get ahead of the game," Green said. "And it gives the folks who live in the community a chance to say they're for it."