Municipal budget office says ballot proposition one is needed to maintain city assets

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The first proposition that voters will be asked to authorize during Anchorage’s 2021 municipal election would generate almost $7 million to assist with various upgrades and improvements to existing municipal facilities. It would cost voters around $1.47 per $100,000 in assessed property value.

According to the director of the municipality’s office of management and budget, Lance Wilbur, proposition one is about residents being able to take care of the facilities that were already approved through previous bond packages.

“We are trying to protect our investments, investments they already made in these facilities,” Wilbur told Alaska’s News Source on Monday. “Occasionally, we received a state grant [...] Obviously those grants are not afforded to us to put dollars into capital facilities or the maintenance of them anymore. It hasn’t been for the last six years.”

Wilbur says that in those six years, Anchorage has only seen a combined total of around $22 million in state funding to assist with capital improvements. That’s a stark contrast from around $534 million which the municipality received in the six years prior, he says.

“Obviously, we have a greater need that we would like to address, but we really strive to focus on our priorities,” he added. “If all of the bonds pass, in all particular areas, the average price for a home that’s worth $100,000 would be about $15.”

The depending on the specific projects in question, the approval of proposition one would likely open the door for the municipality to leverage federal funds as well.

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