10-cent gasoline tax passes Anchorage Assembly

Late Tuesday evening the Anchorage assembly passed a 10-cent gasoline tax in a 10 to1 vote.

The proposal was submitted by the chairman of the Budget Advisory Commission, a group of citizens that provides advice to the assembly and the school board.

Al Tamagni, chairman of the commission, has previously said the proposal calls for property taxes to be offset by the amount of revenue raised by the gasoline tax. Tamagni also said the proposed tax would generate about $14-million a year and the commission is recommending that 100 percent of that be used for property tax relief.

During Tuesday's meeting, he told the assembly there are so many property tax exemptions in Anchorage, and the tax base should be spread out across more groups. He then gave a list of how much some those exceptions cost the city.

"Hospitals, 5 parcels, $4,000,650 bucks. Education, 180 parcels, $15 million dollars, senior citizens 12,918 parcels, $28 million.

The tax would also apply to diesel fuel sales.

Still, some worry that if Anchorage starts its own tax other cities and boroughs will follow.

"Motor fuel taxes should be imposed at the statewide level so that all users of the highway and road facilities pay the same rate as a user fee," Aves Thompson with the Alaska Trucking Association said. "Our fear is that if the Anchorage assembly adopts this ordinance additional communities will impose similar local taxes creating a stove pipe taxation system throughout the state increasing the motor fuel tax at different rates for different areas making statewide operations more difficult."