Finance – Page 4 – City and Borough of Juneau

Assessor’s office to begin canvassing this month

The City and Borough of Juneau Assessor’s Office conducts inspections of various taxable properties within the borough between April and October every year. With about 12,000 taxable parcels throughout Juneau, the Assessor’s Office divides the borough into neighborhoods, which are inspected every five years. From now until October, the Assessor’s Office will be inspecting properties in the Auke Bay, Auke Mountain, Back Loop-South and Point Louisa neighborhoods. Channel View, Waterside and Glacier View mobile home parks will also be canvassed during this time period.

The canvass process involves an exterior inspection of a property, including taking photos from various angles, verifying measurements, and examining the property’s condition in order to provide a value for tax purposes. If you have questions regarding the identity of Assessor’s Office staff, please request to see their Assessor’s Office identification.

State law (AS 29.45.150) requires that all taxable properties within a municipality are systematically reviewed and updated by the assessor. In 1993, the Juneau Assembly passed a resolution establishing a five-year cycle of reevaluation.

For more information, contact the Assessor’s Office at (907) 586-5215 ext. 4906.

June 20th, 2024|

Reminder: senior citizen hardship sales tax rebate deadline is June 30

As a reminder, the deadline to apply for the 2024 Senior Citizen Hardship Sales Tax Rebate is fast approaching! Applications and all required supporting documentation must be received or postmarked by June 30, 2024. Qualifying applicants will receive their rebate in September.

For more information, including application forms and instructions, visit juneau.org/finance/sales-tax/senior-citizen-tax-benefits. If you have questions, please contact the CBJ Sales Tax Office at [email protected] or (907) 586-5215 ex. 4901.

June 19th, 2024|

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) 2025 at the Assembly Finance Committee meeting on Saturday, April 6 at 8:30 am. 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 will introduce the proposed budget during the Regular Assembly meeting on April 1. The manager’s proposed citywide budget, including the school district, hospital, and all city enterprises, totals $459 million, which is down $20.5 million from the FY24 Amended Budget. The Manager worked diligently to keep the operating budget flat while addressing both program needs and inflationary pressures. The budget proposes a property tax increase of 0.16 mills, resulting in a total mill levy rate of 10.32 mills. The mill rate increase funds facilities maintenance costs for three buildings the school district will relinquish back to CBJ on July 1 due to school consolidation and closures. Prior to FY24, CBJ’s property tax rate was 10.5, or higher, for fourteen years straight.

The budget reflects increased projections of sales tax revenues to account for higher remote sales tax and the continued impact of inflation on tax revenues. The budget also includes higher property tax revenues as a result of the proposed 0.16 mill rate increase. Borough-wide property valuations remained relatively flat with a 0.6% increase in FY25 over FY24. This rate of increase indicates that the exceptionally hot residential home sale market in recent years is cooling. These revenue increases are offset by inflationary cost growth in both the operating and capital budgets, as well as $3.7 million of shifting costs for education funding from the State to the City. These cost shifts do not result in increased funding to the School District.

As proposed, the recurring FY25 budget is balanced after consideration of a $1 million lapse, and is forecast to have no impact on general fund balance. However, the proposed budget also includes $11.5 million of proposed one-time spending, including $6 million for public safety communication infrastructure, $3 million for a rewrite of CBJ’s Title 49 Land Use Code, and $1.65 million for school district facilities maintenance of buildings currently in use for educational purposes. (The $1.65 million for the school district was already approved via ordinance.) These one-time costs are partially offset by $2.6 million of expected one-time revenue. These general fund one-time expenditures and revenue net to $8.9 million in expenditures in the FY25 proposed budget, which will be funded by CBJ’s unrestricted general fund balance.

The budget includes the following major components:

$85.4 million for the Juneau School District, a decrease of $10.9 million (11.3 percent) over the FY24 Amended Budget. This decrease reflects action taken by the Board of Education to make cuts in order to balance the FY25 budget after discovering a structural deficit of $9.5 million in FY24. Cost reductions include facility closures and school consolidation, as well as cuts to personnel and commodities and services.
$195.8 million for Enterprise Funds (hospital, airport, water utilities, docks, and harbors), an increase of $4.8 million (2.5 percent). This change is primarily due to higher costs at the hospital for insurances and materials and commodities.
$106.2 million for general government, a decrease of $1.2 million (1.1 percent) from the FY24 Amended Budget. This decrease primarily reflects large competitive affordable housing grants and loans issued in FY24, offset by operational cost growth for negotiated wage increases and inflationary impacts on commodities and services.
$51.0 million for capital improvement projects, a decrease of $7.6 million (13.0 percent) from the FY24 Amended Budget. This decrease is due to a large one-time appropriation in the FY24 budget for city hall.
$10.4 million for the debt service budget, a decrease of $1.1 million (9.6 percent) over the FY24 Amended Budget. This reflects a reduction in outstanding school construction debt, as multiple bonds were fully paid off during FY24.

Read CBJ’s proposed Biennial Budget for fiscal year 2025. The City Manager’s Budget Message is on pages 19-22.

For more information, contact Finance Director Angie Flick at (907) 586-5215 or [email protected].

April 1st, 2024|

Learn all about the property assessment and appeal process at March 15 Lunch and Learn

If you missed CBJ’s presentation about how property assessment works in Juneau, you can watch a full recording online. A follow-up session that will go into greater detail on how the appeal process works for property taxes will be held on Friday, March 15 at 12 p.m. in the Assembly Chambers.

At the session, CBJ Finance Director Angie Flick will provide a brief summary of the process of assessing properties in Juneau and the standards the Assessor’s Office uses, followed by a presentation on how to appeal your property tax assessment. The presentation will begin at 12 p.m. and will include time for questions. The deadline to file appeals for 2024 is Monday, April 1.

This session is open to all. Bring your lunch and your curiosity to learn more about how this important process takes place.

You can also join the presentation online:

Zoom link: https://juneau.zoom.us/j/93917915176

Dial-in: 1-253-215-8782

Webinar ID: 939 1791 5176

A recording will be available to watch on CBJ’s YouTube channel after the event.

Please be aware that this learning session will cover general property assessment and appeal topics—if you have questions about a specific property parcel, please contact the Assessor’s Office at [email protected] or (907) 586-5215 ext. 4906. Your understanding is greatly appreciated.

March 5th, 2024|

Apply now for 2024 Senior Citizen Hardship Tax Exemption programs

Applications are now available for the 2024 Senior Citizen Hardship Tax Programs.

Juneau residents aged 65 and older may qualify for one or both: the Senior Citizen Real Property Hardship Exemption and the Senior Citizen Sales Tax Hardship Rebate. Both programs require an annual application, so you must reapply each year. Applications are based off your 2023 gross income level.

More information, applications for both programs, and more can be found online at juneau.org/finance/sales-tax/senior-citizen-tax-benefits.

Senior Citizen Real Property Hardship Exemption

Applicants who receive the Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption may qualify for the Real Property Hardship Exemption if the gross household income for all members of the household falls below 120% of the HUD median income for Juneau. HUD data for 2024 has not been published and is not expected to be released until April; below are the levels for 2023 for reference. Please note that final determinations will be based on 2024 data, so seniors are encouraged to apply even if their gross income exceeds the 2023 levels.

Household Size	Median Income	120% of Median Income
1	$85,600	$102,720
2	$97,800	$117,360
3	$110,000	$132,000
4	$122,200	$146,640
5	$132,000	$158,400

The deadline to apply for the Senior Citizen Real Property Hardship Exemption is April 30, 2024. Contact the Assessor’s Office at 907-586-5215 ext. 4906 or [email protected].

Is this your first year applying for the Real Property Hardship Exemption? Don’t forget to file for your Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption by March 31, 2024. If you’re not sure which application is which, contact the Assessor’s Office for help.

Senior Citizen Sales Tax Hardship Rebate

Applicants with a valid Senior Sales Tax Exemption card may qualify for the Hardship Rebate if their gross income falls below 250% of the current Federal Poverty Guidelines for Alaska. Below are the income limits for the 2024 application.

	Individual Applicant	Married Applicants
Gross Income Limit	$45,5255	$61,600
Rebate Amount	$325	$650

The deadline to apply for the 2024 Senior Citizen Hardship Sales Tax Rebate is June 30, 2024. Contact the Sales Tax Office at 907-586-5215 ext. 4901 or [email protected].

March 4th, 2024|

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