The Kenai Peninsula Borough is in good shape financially according to Mayor Mike Navarre in his annual borough update; nevertheless, he says local and state agencies must plan their way through Alaska’s current fiscal crisis in order to avoid an economic crisis, which is harder to deal with.
The Borough is partaking in that planning process by examining their job openings.
Mayor Navarre: “We have people who retire or leave, leave employment at the borough for a number of reasons and what we’ve asked our directors to do within their departments is when they have vacant positions, don’t just assume that they’re going to be filled, let’s take a look at it, analyze a need for it like what their responsibilities are and make a determination about whether or not it could be combined into another job or whether it’s necessary to replace that position.”
As we’ve been reporting, the Borough is also examining how to lower local healthcare costs through a task force and conducting a complete tax code overhaul in order to examine revenues.
In 2014, 84% of the General Fund Revenues collected by the Borough were from property and sales taxes.
Navarre said in his borough update that anytime changes are proposed in tax structures, there will likely be community push-back however it is a necessary discussion in fiscally strained times.
At this time there are no proposals to raise or change property tax codes.
Any recommendations from either the Healthcare Task Force or administrators working on the tax overhaul will have to be approved by the Borough Assembly.
Mayor Navarre asks that Kenai Peninsula residents also communicate their desire for a state fiscal plan via letters or emails to Alaskan Legislators before they enter the next legislative budget cycle.