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FAIRBANKS - After leaving office more than one year ago, former Gov. Frank Murkowski has traveled the world, built a cabin in Wrangell and traveled some more. In March, he led a delegation to watch democracy in action while Taiwan elected a president.

But while the ex-governor certainly gets around, the question of where he lives - at least for tax purposes - hasn't proven quite as simple to answer.

Last February, the former governor and his wife unsuccessfully applied for a common property tax break - one available to residents who live in Fairbanks most of the year - for a Chena Pump Road property that accommodates no full-time home, only a converted railroad car. After being denied, he wrote to the Fairbanks North Star Borough that the qualifications for the tax break - a partial exemption on assessed property value - are "unclear."

The letter also raised the indirect question of where a long-term public official can claim to live as he or she transitions back into private life.

"If we are not considered residents of Fairbanks, where would you suggest we claim residency," Murkowski wrote to borough officials in the March 15 letter.

The tax break is one available to many Fairbanks-area residents - those who own their home and live there for 185 days or more out of the year. The Murkowskis, through the application, asked that the break be applied to a property that lacks a house but includes the renovated railroad car, which Murkowski said the family converted for trips home during his tenure in the U.S. Senate.

A year after the borough denied the application, Murkowski wrote back in mid-March to lodge concern about his land's rising assessed property value - the price tag on the 1.5-acre Chena Pump Road lot had jumped by more than 50 percent in one year, 2006, to reach $102,853.

Murkowski wrote that he continues to pay bills at, and submit taxes for, the property, which constitutes one-quarter of a larger 5-acre tract he bought on the south side of Chena Pump Road 37 years ago. The tract has since been divided into four lots. He wrote that the couple lived in a house on Chena Pump Road until he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980, after which he said they "temporarily" lived in Washington, D.C., during his subsequent four terms in Congress. He left the Senate in 2002 for a term as governor, and the couple moved to Juneau until he lost a re-election bid last winter.

"But during that entire time, I have always claimed my residence to be in Fairbanks," Murkowski wrote.

Murkowski confirmed in an interview Wednesday that they weren't looking for special treatment from the borough or trying to say they lived in the car in 2006 or 2007. He simply indicated the borough's application - which asks if applicants "own and reside on" their property - can be confusing at first glance.

Pat Carlson said Murkowski is right. The former governor's question of residency status is one commonly asked by taxpayers, said Carlson, the borough's assessor. He said he plans to update the application form for exemptions next year to reduce confusion.

Carlson said his department rejected the couple's application because it knew the Murkowskis hadn't physically lived at their property's "structure" - the renovated railroad car - during the 2007 tax year.

"We're not disputing that he's an Alaska resident and has been forever," Carlson said. "We're just disputing that he has a primary residence there for purposes of the property tax exemption."

In fact, Murkowski and his wife haven't lived in Fairbanks, or any city other than Juneau or Washington, D.C., for at least half of any year in almost three decades. That includes last year, when Murkowski said the couple sailed around the world, lived in Wrangell for the summer, spent time in Anchorage and Harding Lake and visited Ireland and Utah before heading to Mexico early this year.

Murkowski did say, however, that the car is heated, served by underground utilities, has hot water and dishes and can accommodate short stays.

"It's very comfortable," he said.

Murkowski said Wednesday that a family member bought the railroad car from a Fairbanks entrepreneur a few decades ago. He said he started fixing the car up in the mid-1980s when his family was spending most of its time on the East Coast. They wanted to sell the house but needed a place to spend time when returning home, he said.

As a member of Congress, Murkowski and his staff still qualified for certain state benefits including a Permanent Fund Dividend check while in Washington. Debbie Richter, who directs the state's Permanent Fund Dividend Division, said all congressional representatives can collect dividends.

But Carlson said the rules are different for municipal property tax exemptions, be they for homeowners or senior citizens. There's nothing stopping someone who doesn't qualify one year for a partial tax break from checking the residency requirements and trying again, he said.

"Every year is a new bite at the apple," he said.

Murkowski said the new Wrangell cabin will give him and his wife, Nancy, another place to spend time. But he said the couple is enjoying traveling and isn't ready to drop anchor in any particular spot.

"Home is just where we happen to be," he said of life in retirement. "But it will be in Alaska somewhere."