The question of how many months of the year the Kenai Peninsula Borough should collect taxes on non-prepared foods is back before the Assembly.
An ordinance to change the tax collection duration from three months to six months each year was introduced at the last meeting by Borough Assemblyman Dale Bagley.
Asmb. Bagley: “I tried this last year and it actually passed the first time but then Kelly Wolf asked for reconsideration and then changed his vote. So I think it’s worth bringing up again, especially since we’re going to have a shortage on revenue sharing from the State of Alaska this year. It does help raise $1.4 million in revenue and I think it’ll go a long ways towards helping with our budget this year.”
Last October borough residents approved a voter referendum that reversed a 2008 assembly ordinance that allowed general law cities like Soldotna, Homer, and Seldovia to collect a 3 percent sales taxes on non-prepared foods during the wintertime.
Bagley says he feels that it is more fair to split the year evenly with six months of the tax and six months without.
The ordinance will be up for public testimony at the May 3 Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting.