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|

Juneau Assembly passes budget that maintains flat property tax rate

After weeks of budget work by the Assembly Finance Committee, the Juneau Assembly passed the Fiscal Year 2021 budget at Monday night’s Regular Assembly Meeting. The $385.7 million budget includes cuts to CBJ positions and the Capital Improvement Plan, and does not increase the property tax rate from last year.

At the beginning of the budget process, the Finance Committee wrestled with a revenue shortfall of $34.5 million over the next 30 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Assembly was able to maintain the property tax rate for 2020 at 10.66 mills due to the State of Alaska’s community distribution of federal CARES Act funding, $53 million of which was allocated to Juneau. Of this amount, $11 million is budgeted to offset CBJ operating expenditures in the next two fiscal years. CARES Act funding will also be used to cover certain CBJ personnel costs related to COVID-19  and for community services, like funding for the new COVID-19 childcare program, rental assistance grants, business sustainability grants, and emergency shelter.

To further balance the budget, the Assembly cut $1.5 million in CBJ staff positions and $13 million from the Capital Improvement Plan, including a one-year delay of the $3.3 million Augustus Brown Pool deferred maintenance project. The final budget is balanced by a $3.1 million draw from savings. The Assembly Finance Committee anticipates continuing to work on the FY21 budget throughout the year as the fiscal health of CBJ becomes more discernible.

For more information, contact Finance Director Jeff Rogers at 586-0300 or [email protected].​

June 10th, 2020|

Finance Committee may take action on property tax rate tonight

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly Finance Committee is close to finishing its work on the Fiscal Year 2021 budget. During its meeting at 5 p.m. today, the committee may take action on pending items, a resolution on a reduced capital improvement plan, an ordinance setting the property tax rate, and an ordinance on the general operating budget. If passed out of the finance committee today, the budget then heads to the Assembly for final authorization.

Follow along with the 5 p.m. meeting:

The Finance Committee will consider the proposed mill levy ordinance. When the Manager introduced the ordinance, it called for a 1 mill increase for a total mill levy rate of 11.66 to pay for essential services in the face of drastically reduced Sales Tax revenue. Due to federal CARES Act funding, which has stabilized the budget picture, the Manager has since revised his recommendation to consider a much reduced mill levy increase of .1 mill. The .1 increase corresponds to the FY21 cost of the Assembly’s new childcare program. The Assembly has the final authority to set the mill rate. The CARES Act will initially provide up to $17 million in FY20 and FY21, and the Finance Committee will balance tax revenues with decisions about essential services.

Also on the agenda is the Budget Pending List, which includes several items, from grants to local organizations to Marine Passenger Fee recommendations to budget reduction scenarios. See what’s already been approved and what’s still pending here.

May 27th, 2020|

Updated budget balancing tool & childcare on tonight’s Assembly Finance Committee agenda

The City and Borough of Juneau Manager will present an updated budget strategy to the Assembly during tonight’s Assembly Finance Committee meeting, which starts at 5 p.m. Also on the agenda is a COVID-19 update, COVID-19 related childcare support, Economic Stabilization Task Force Recommendations, a capital improvement project update, and the FY21 Budget pending items list. Read the full agenda packet here.

Follow along with the 5 p.m. meeting: Join the Zoom Webinar https://juneau.zoom.us/j/91513381022, watch on Facebook Live, or call 1-346-248-7799 and enter Webinar ID: 915 1338 1022.

In a memo to the Finance Committee, City Manager Rorie Watt lays out several budget assumptions and presents his revised budget strategy. CBJ faces a revenue shortfall of $34.5 million over the next 30 months. Members of the public are invited to try to balance the CBJ budget on this Excel spreadsheet. By charter, the Assembly is required to pass a budget by June 15.

Also on the agenda are recommendations for COVID-19 related childcare funding. Based on guidance from the Economic Stabilization Task Force, Deputy City Manager Mila Cosgrove is recommending the Finance Committee consider disbursing about $1 million of federal CARES Act to local childcare providers from June to December.

Also on the agenda is the Budget Pending List, which includes several items, from grants to local organizations to Marine Passenger Fee recommendations to budget reduction scenarios.

May 20th, 2020|
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