A mature bald eagle perches on a piling outside of the Douglas Harbor in August 2004. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)

A mature bald eagle perches on a piling outside of the Douglas Harbor in August 2004. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)

Hot topics at City Hall include school facilities, sales tax money

Sometimes it can be hard to keep track of all the things the City and Borough of Juneau is doing. Around the first and fifteenth of every month, I’ll be shedding light on ongoing issues and upcoming topics that I think will be of interest to the public.

School facilities

Demographic and economic changes are big drivers in the state. Like a lot of the country, our population is aging and that change is happening at a time when the state has significantly fewer financial resources. Locally, an aging population means that we have fewer kids in the school system.

There’s been plenty of discussion about the Juneau School District’s operating budget, and the pressure it puts on classroom size and the number of teachers that we can afford. But, there’s been less focus on school facilities, yet our buildings face the same funding challenges. Juneau schools have been built and renovated through a State program that pays for up to 70 percent of the cost, but the state has temporarily (for the foreseeable future) closed the program. That means we have no funding stream to maintain and upgrade our facilities, and everyone knows that our schools get a lot of use, a lot of wear and tear.

I encourage you to follow the joint Assembly and School Board Facilities Committee. It’s in the process of evaluating our school facilities and our economic ability to keep them in good functional shape. The joint committee met this week on Wednesday and recently received a draft summary of findings from its contractor regarding a facility master plan. There’s still a lot more of the process to come.

One percent sales tax

Right now, CBJ’s sales tax is 5 percent. Through successive ballot measures, 1 percent of that has been dedicated to funding facility and infrastructure maintenance as well as new facilities. In October 2018, that one percent is set to end unless voters decide again to extend it.

Much of our infrastructure was built in the 1980s and, like all aging facilities, needs work and updating. The cost of maintaining and upgrading our water and wastewater systems, our harbors, airport, Augustus Brown pool and Centennial Hall will feature prominently in Assembly discussions, which started this week. The Assembly has a tough job to do to balance all of our needs. If you’re interested in this issue, pay attention to Assembly Finance Committee meetings.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Dozens of people throw colors in the air and at each other during a Holi festival gathering Monday night outside Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Dozens toss caution and colored cornstarch to the wind in traditional Hindu celebration of spring

Most Read