Usually near the end of the fiscal year, the Assembly scrambles to spend excess funds collected over the budgeted spending plan. Not so much this year due to the flooding of the Mendenhall Valley.
Speaking of weather, April and May have been unusually wet. We have seen a slow drain from our schools as some families who have made Juneau their home for generations make the move south to sunnier climes and a lower cost of living. Win Gruening has written some thoughtful newspaper columns about expanding economic opportunities and lowering taxes. Those might be two good litmus tests for anyone approaching the Assembly this year asking for a grant. How does your grant request expand economic opportunities or lower the cost of living in Juneau? Answer? Most don’t.
I recently signed petitions sponsored by the Affordable Juneau Coalition to place three initiatives on the October ballot. One would set a property tax rate cap of nine mills (not including debt service), another would exempt “essential food’ and residential utilities from local sales tax, and a third would return to poll-based local elections. These initiatives have the potential to make Juneau more affordable.
Juneau has always been a last-minute town. In the words of Mark Twain (1889) it’s time to “put up or shut up.” Actually, it’s time to “show up.” You can sign petitions this weekend at Western Auto, Rotary Park and near Costco. Don’t have time? Twain also said “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”
Ken Koelsch
Juneau