Assembly begins budget review process at April 6 Finance Committee meeting

The Juneau Assembly will begin its multi-week process to review the City and Borough of Juneau’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2023 at the Assembly Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 6 at 5:30 p.m. Join the committee meeting in person at City Hall, online at https://juneau.zoom.us/j/93917915176, or call 1-253-215-8782 with webinar ID: 939 1791 5176.

The City Manager introduced the proposed budget during the Regular Assembly meeting on April 4. The manager’s proposed citywide budget, including the school district, hospital, and all city enterprises, totals $408 million, which is down $26.9 million from the FY22 Amended Budget. The budget proposes a property tax increase of 0.1 mills, resulting in a total mill levy rate of 10.66 mills. Prior to the 10.56 mill rate established in 2021 for the FY22 budget, CBJ’s property tax rate was 10.66, or higher, for 8 years straight.

The budget reflects increased projections of sales tax revenues and cruise ship passenger fees in anticipation of cruise tourism returning to near pre-pandemic levels this summer. The budget also includes higher property tax revenues as a result of a 6.2% increase to total borough-wide property valuation. This is primarily reflective of the robust residential home sales market during the pandemic in response to high demand and low supply of homes. These revenue increases are offset by inflationary cost growth in both the operating and capital budgets, as well as shifting costs for education funding from the State to the City as a result of property valuation increases. These factors contribute to a general fund deficit of $3.4 million in the FY23 proposed budget.

The budget includes the following major components:

  • $86.7 million for the Juneau School District, a decrease of $5.7 million (6.2 percent) over the FY22 Amended Budget. This decrease primarily reflects one-time expenditures in FY22 associated with the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund grant to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, as well as a reduction to the Public Employees’ and Teacher retirement systems on-behalf contributions.
  • $179.4 million for Enterprise Funds (hospital, airport, water utilities, docks, and harbors), an increase of $18.5 million (11.5 percent). This change is primarily due to higher anticipated patient volume at the hospital as a result of increased capacity.
  • $87.3 million for general government, an increase of $705,600 (0.8 percent) from the FY22 Amended Budget. While total budget change is relatively small, the budget reflects a big shift from federal pandemic relief revenues back to local taxes and other revenues.
  • $36.5 million for capital improvement projects, a decrease of $32.3 million (47 percent) from the FY22 Amended Budget. This decrease is a result of significant supplemental appropriations made in FY22 to the capital budget, as well as the Hospital issuing $20 million in revenue bonds for which the proceeds were fully appropriated to capital projects.
  • $10.9 million for the debt service budget, a decrease of $4.2 million (27.7 percent) over the FY22 Amended Budget. This reflects a reduction in outstanding school construction debt, as multiple bonds were fully paid off during FY22. However, unreimbursed school bond debt from FY22 will be paid off with property taxes collected in FY23, which keeps the debt service portion of the mill rate flat.

Read CBJ’s proposed Biennial Budget for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. The City Manager’s Budget Message is on pages 19-22.

For more information, contact Finance Director Jeff Rogers at 907-723-6907 or [email protected].

April 5th, 2022|

Wondering how CBJ spends your tax dollars? Now, it’s easier to find out.

The City and Borough of Juneau Finance Department is rolling out a helpful resource that allows residents to see how CBJ spends tax dollars. The program Taxpayer Receipt provides residents an estimate of how CBJ spends property and sales taxes, with a breakdown of programs and services supported by residents’ tax dollars. The goal is to improve residents’ understanding of how their taxes are being spent. By providing transparency about fiscal priorities funded by taxes, CBJ hopes to enhance public engagement during the budget process, which occurs each spring. Use Taxpayer Receipt here.

To use the resource, residents anonymously answer questions regarding age, annual income, whether they own a home, and the home’s assessed value, if applicable. Based on this information, the tool applies an algorithm that calculates their estimated taxes paid and how they are being spent. The tool will produce a tax receipt that includes CBJ’s 5% sales tax for all residents and CBJ’s property tax rate of 10.56 mills for home owners. The receipt does not include additional taxes levied on the sale of tobacco, liquor, or marijuana, and it does not account for property taxes that are paid via rental costs. Taxpayer Receipt breaks that total tax burden down into proportional amounts for all of CBJ’s individual programs and services – police, fire, parks, recreation, libraries, etc. – that are supported by those taxes.

Juneau residents can access Taxpayer Receipt here or by going to juneau.org/budget.

For more information, contact Budget Analyst Adrien Speegle at [email protected] or 907-586-5215 ext. 4058.

 

October 26th, 2021|

Juneau Assembly passes budget reducing the property tax rate

After two months of budget work by the Assembly Finance Committee, the Juneau Assembly passed the Fiscal Year 2022 budget at Monday night’s Regular Assembly Meeting. The Assembly voted to lower the property tax rate from 10.66 mills to 10.56 mills – the lowest property tax rate since 2013. The new budget, which begins July 1, expands the Assembly’s support for childcare services and also restores money to the Capital Improvement Plan, including improvements to the Augustus Brown Pool.

The $420.9 million budget includes reduced projections of sales tax revenues and cruise ship passenger fees in anticipation of limited large cruise ship visitation this current summer. To offset these depressed revenues, the budget utilizes CBJ’s $12.8 million allocation of federal stimulus funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to replace lost revenues in FY21 and FY22. Application of this federal aid to offset lost revenues in FY21 reduced the anticipated $2.8 million deficit to zero, and in FY22 reduces the projected $15.8 million deficit to $5.9 million.

Despite being faced with a deficit, the Assembly maintained all essential city services while lowering the property tax rate to 10.56 mills. Even with the lower property tax rate, CBJ will collect approximately $3.0 million more in property tax revenue in FY22 as a result of a substantial growth in property valuations, including a considerable adjustment to the value of commercial land. The Assembly still needed to draw from savings to cover a remaining budgetary shortfall.

The Assembly also restored $6.9 million of temporary reductions to the Capital Improvement Plan that were made in FY21 to balance the budget, including the $3.3 million Augustus Brown Pool deferred maintenance project.

For more information, contact Finance Director Jeff Rogers at 723-6907 or [email protected].

June 15th, 2021|

Comment on proposed CBJ budget at April 21 Special Assembly Meeting

The public is invited to provide feedback on the proposed City and Borough of Juneau budget for fiscal year 2022 at a Special Assembly Meeting Wednesday, April 21 at 5:30 p.m. The public can comment on the property tax mill levy rate, the CBJ operating budget, the Juneau School District general operating budget, and the capital improvement program. Read the Special Meeting agenda packet here. An Assembly Finance Committee meeting will immediately follow (agenda packet).

Join the Special Assembly and Assembly Finance Committee meetings online https://juneau.zoom.us/j/91437455050, call 1-253-215-8782 with Webinar ID: 914 3745 5050, or watch on Facebook Live.

To provide public comment during the Special Assembly meeting, notify the Clerk’s Office:

  • Call the Municipal Clerk’s public testimony line at 586-0215 by 3 p.m. April 21, OR
  • Email [email protected] and provide your name, email address, phone number, and the agenda topic(s) you wish to testify on.

If you haven’t notified the Clerk’s Office ahead of time, you can still participate. While online on Zoom, hit the ‘raise hand’ button to speak on an item up for public hearing or a non-agenda item. If you’re calling in, press *9 on your phone to raise your hand.

Testimony time will be limited by the Mayor based on the number of participants. Members of the public are encouraged to send their comments in advance of the meeting to [email protected].

Items up for public hearing at the Special Assembly Meeting include:

  • Ordinance 2021-08: An Ordinance Appropriating Funds from the Treasury for FY22 City and Borough Operations.
  • Ordinance 2021-09: An Ordinance Appropriating Funds from the Treasury for FY22 School District Operations.
  • Ordinance 2021-10: An Ordinance Establishing the Rate of Levy for Property Taxes for Calendar Year 2021 Based Upon the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2022.
  • Resolution 2937: A Resolution Adopting the City and Borough Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Years 2022 through 2027, and Establishing the Capital Improvement Project Priorities for Fiscal Year 2022.

For more information, contact the City Clerk’s Office at 586-5278.

April 20th, 2021|

Assembly begins multi-week budget process at April 7 Finance Committee meeting

The Juneau Assembly will begin its multi-week process to determine the City and Borough of Juneau’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2022 at the Assembly Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 7 at 5:30 p.m. Join the committee meeting online at https://juneau.zoom.us/j/93917915176, call 1-253-215-8782 with webinar ID: 939 1791 5176, or watch on Facebook Live.

The City Manager introduced the budget during the Regular Assembly meeting on April 5. The Manager’s proposed citywide budget of $396 million is down $22.1 million from the FY21 Amended Budget. The budget proposes a property tax increase of 0.2 mills for the purpose of funding community grants for childcare support; resulting in a total mill levy rate of 10.86 mills.

The Assembly Finance Committee is scheduled to meet every Wednesday through the end of May to work on the budget. The public can comment on the budget at a public hearing during a Special Assembly Meeting on April 21 at 5:30 p.m.

The budget includes the following major components:

  • $92.4 million for the Juneau School District, an increase of $0.8 million (0.9 percent) over the FY21 Amended Budget. This increase reflects expenditures associated with the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund grant that is intended to help address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students.
  • $161.4 million for Enterprise Funds (hospital, airport, water utilities, docks, and harbors), an increase of $5.1 million (3.3 percent). This change is primarily due to the addition of a mental and behavioral health facility at the hospital.
  • $82 million for general government, a decrease of $27.9 million (25.4 percent) from the FY21 Amended Budget. This was primarily driven by an influx of spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and increased federal stimulus from the CARES Act in FY21, a $7 million decrease in one-time funding of Assembly grants, and a $2.8 million general fund reduction of subsidized debt service due to unreimbursed school bond debt from the State of Alaska.
  • $35.3 million for capital improvement projects, an increase of $1 million (3.1 percent) from the FY21 Amended Budget. Additional appropriations may be made throughout the year as funding is committed.
  • $15.1 million for the debt service budget, a decrease of $0.6 million (3.6 percent) over the FY21 Amended Budget. This reflects a reduction in outstanding school construction debt, as multiple bonds were fully paid off during FY21.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the budget reflects reduced projections of sales tax revenues and cruise ship passengers fees in anticipation of no large cruise ship visitation in the summer of 2021. To offset these depressed revenues, the manager’s proposed budget utilizes CBJ’s $12.8 million allocation of federal stimulus funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to replace lost revenues in FY21 and FY22. Application of this federal aid to offset lost revenues in FY21 reduces the anticipated $4.6 million general fund deficit to zero, and in FY22 closes the projected $16 million deficit to $7.8 million.

For more information, contact Finance Director Jeff Rogers at 723-6907 or [email protected].

April 6th, 2021|
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