An election to form Alaska’s first new borough since 2013 is scheduled July 15 for residents of Hoonah and the surrounding area who will determine if the long-discussed Xunaa Borough becomes a reality.
A notice for the by-mail vote was published Wednesday by the Alaska Division of Elections. It states the deadline for candidates seeking offices in the borough government is 5 p.m. May 16 and ballots will be mailed to eligible residents by June 23. Ballots must be postmarked by July 15 and the target date for certification of all ballots is July 31.
“This election will take place entirely by mail,” the notice states. “There will be no voting location on Election Day.”
The issues that will be decided by voters are:
• If the Xunaa Borough will be incorporated, which will result in the concurrent dissolution of the existing City of Hoonah.
• If the Xunaa Borough does incorporate, whether a 1% seasonal areawide sales tax and other sales taxes defined in the incorporation petition are implemented.
• If incorporation occurs, who will serve on a seven-member borough assembly — including a mayor — and five-member school board.
Hoonah has made multiple attempts during the past three decades to form a borough, with the current request officially made by the City of Hoonah going through a back-and-forth process before getting final approval from the Alaska Local Boundary Commission earlier this year.
If the new borough if approved by voters, Hoonah’s municipal government would be dissolved, and new boundaries would include Hoonah, Game Creek, Elfin Cove, Funter Bay, Horse and Colt Islands, and most of Glacier Bay National Park. Of an estimated 1,000 residents in that area, roughly 900 live in Hoonah.
The City of Hoonah, in a presentation arguing in favor of the new borough, states the community will benefit from increased revenue (including a 1% sales tax from May to September intended to take advantage of tourism), and more influence on resource decisions involving areas such as subsistence use and management of Glacier Bay National Park.
Opposition was expressed by residents and officials in communities outside the borough boundaries including Gustavus, Pelican and Tenakee Springs. Among the concerns are being excluded from regional decision-making — especially for commercially lucrative areas such as Glacier Bay. Gustavus Mayor Sally McLaughlin said in an interview last December she’s concerned about how the borough’s expanded authority could intrude on her community.
“There’s the possibility that everything that we do once we leave our docks and go out into the waters just offshore of our beach could be taxed by Xunaa because those waters would be part of the borough,” she said. “There’s nothing in their petition that says they’re going to do that, but there’s nothing preventing them from doing that later.”
The new borough would be the 20th in Alaska and the first formed since Petersburg in 2013.
Hoonah is 7.3 square miles in size, while the new borough would include 4,246 square miles of land and 6,157 square miles of water. Hoonah officials state residents in the borough will not be subject to property taxes, with revenue instead coming from other taxes including the seasonal tax and “commerce primarily tied to commercial fishing grounds.”
Along similar lines, governing authority in communities outside of Hoonah would be limited, according to the boundary commission’s decision.
“Because of remote area residents’ preferences for independent living, only administration, taxation, planning, zoning, and education would be offered areawide,” the decision notes. “All other powers, i.e., police, fire, emergency services, solid waste collection and disposal, etc., would only be provided in the Hoonah Townsite.”
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
