Antipathy between certain elements of the Assembly and former Mayor, now Senator Mark Begich isn’t really new or news. That said, one of my colleagues managed to generate headlines last week by claiming the previous administration withheld relevant fiscal information during the waning months of 2009, citing a memo from former CFO Sharon Weddleton.
In addition to the comments generated by my previous post I received several phone calls and e-mails, a few of which gently suggested that some additional information might lead me to a different conclusion on budgetary matters. Since then I have reviewed some more detailed material and still have questions.
Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens, is supposed to have written:
“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
The new administration stubbed its toe last week by announcing, or perhaps leaking, that it found another $9 million shortfall prior to advising any Assembly members. Indeed, I first heard about it when a KTUU reporter asked me, on camera, at the conclusion of an interview on a completely different subject. Apparently administration officials hadn’t read my post about the importance of the mayor and the Assembly working collaboratively, and somehow forgot that surprising your colleagues in this manner is a nifty way to gain a quick dose of enmity.
In an effort to keep tabs on various aspects of life in Anchorage, the Assembly assigns its members to serve as liaisons to several local organizations. I’m not sure how it so happened that I got tapped to serve as the Assembly representative on the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau board, but it’s a pretty good fit. Partly because I represent downtown, which sees quite a bit of visitor traffic, and partly because my day job involves a fair amount of interaction with the tourism industry. I attended ACVB’s quarterly board meeting earlier this week so I thought I’d share a little bit about what I learned.
The only really important thing the Assembly needs to do tonight is set mill rates for 2009. There are two ordinances for that, one for MOA budget items and one for ASD budget items. In conjunction we pass the first quarter budget amendments, where we set spending levels for which we need to provide revenue.
As we approach the May 5 mayoral run-off one of the issues at the fore is the question of taxes. One of the candidates has advanced the possibility of replacing Anchorage property taxes with a sales tax while the other rejects the idea. Part of the disagreement appears to stem from how a sales tax would be crafted (what items would be exempted, transaction caps, etc.) and what rate would therefore be required. Perhaps you’ve heard a sales tax of 6% would raise enough revenue to replace property taxes. If so, that assertion was probably based on work performed by Larry Persily back in 2005.
By now readers are likely aware that the acting Mayor vetoed the Assembly’s version of the School District budget, thereby restoring the School Board‘s version and reversing a $3.8 million cut. (If you missed it here are links to the KTUU and ADN stories.) The move wasn’t exactly a surprise, given that I mused about it last week, but I’m more curious about the downstream effects.
After orchestrating a successful amendment reducing the Anchorage School District‘s budget by about $3.9 million I find myself in an interesting place. I’ve received several “thank you” e-mails from Anchorage residents who, previously, have been less than appreciative of my efforts on the Assembly. Yesterday Eddie Burke, whom I’ve known for many years, invited me to appear on his radio show for the first time. And a friend who spends far more time monitoring internet activity than me reported:
In my previous post I ruminated about what level of Anchorage School District spending the Assembly would be willing to approve for the coming year. I talked to Superintendent Carol Comeau over the weekend and, while she certainly doesn’t want to see ASD’s budget cut, she drew the same conclusions I did about the Assembly’s mood during the Friday work session.
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