Wanted: Fiscal Sanity

Anchorage has been living the "good vibrations" of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch for the last 6 years. The problem is, much like the real Marky Mark, Begich moved on to something different. The real Marky Mark has given us Entourage while our version has become merely a little fish in the DC spending pond.

Dan Sullivan cannot spend his time as mayor blaming the Church of Begich for Anchorage's ills. We already saw that play out with 6 years of whining about Wuerch. Sullivan needs to figure out how to get the city moving forward with a long term financial plan.

Anchorage should not rely on the state. Anchorage should not rely on the feds either. We need to start basing our finances on what we can afford.

The municipality should turn down any program, and there are many, where the outside funding goes away after a sunset. Many sound good, like the cops in the school, but it simply grows liability when the cash disappears.

Concessions are needed from from the unions. Still, the deal that passed has made real help impossible. Hopefully, the next time a contract comes up the Funky Bunch remanents are gone.

All the talk about public safety is legitimate but when you ask the fox about the hen house the answer is predictable. The fire and police departments will prophesize doom and gloom no matter what is suggested.

Sullivan was absolutely correct about the firefighters collecting MDS money in the streets. When the city is strapped for cash, city employees should not be being paid opening the city to liability. It sounds harsh but the most of the rest of us are not on the clock when we do charitable work.

Begich turned APD into a traffic ticket writing machine as mayor and then wondered why gang activity increased. Mayor Sullivan needs to make sure that the police prioritize public safety appropriately.

Anybody remember when the Begich administration complained revenue was being dropped too much by judges allowing traffic school? Those judges really cut into the COB's plans when they had APD writing 50% more tickets.

One cop on Minnesota in the morning may be acceptable but an army is not. And no, increasing revenue by writing tickets for people going 60 in a 55 zone is not the way out of this mess.

Other departments should be cut as much as possible. When you look at the budget increasing almost 50% (from $290M to over $400M) in 6 years there have to be things that can go away. It may be travel expenses. It may be things like the credit card fiasco from a couple of years back.

Anchorage's other challenge is to diversify the tax base. It is true that we have a low tax burden in this city but that is no excuse to lay all of it on the property owner.

It is unlikely that a sales tax will ever get the 60% it needs to pass to be used for the operating budget. It would be ideal but the voters know it would likely lead to trickery with the tax cap eventually.

Property taxes go up every time a bond passes and that is where to look. The school district has to help in the overall plan. Why do bonds need to be tied to property taxes?

ASD has shown unbelievable irresponsibility over the years. They routinely put bonds on the ballot for maintenance issues. Carol Comeau and company whine about how we need to do it for our children. She always fails to mention their obviously poor management of money.

It is true that students should not have to suffer because a bloated administration cannot adequately plan for things. Over the long term, Sullivan and the city need to pressure ASD into more efficiency. In the meantime we need to spend the cash but the burden needs to come off the property owners.

School bonds in the future should be tied partially to sales taxes. It would mean 60% was needed to pass. So be it. A higher hurdle might actually mean the school district has to plan more carefully.

If we ask ASD to link at least one bond to a sales tax each election we will force them into prioritizing. The way to do it is to set a cap on how much they can ask for in property tax bonds. 50-70% of bonds being retired might be a good starting point.

Road bonds should be tied to taxes on gas, auto parts, auto services, rental cars, and extra registration fees on cars being used in the Anchorage. The emissions check program is not needed but we could use a similar program to collect money for road bonds. A toll road or two could be considered if we really want to diversify.

Parks bonds should be tied heavily to user fees. Taxes on bikes and bike parts and permits to use the bikes on trails should also be assessed. The same structure could be used on skiers. Fees for dog licenses could also be used for trail and park maintenance. I have no problem paying more for my activities but all recreational activities need to be responsible for supporting themselves.

We could still use property taxes for bonds but if we start using other sources we will retire debt linked to property taxes. It is likely we will find out how much people really want things as well.

Some may argue these revenue streams may not be reliable. The same could actually be said for property taxes.

People are going to moan about how this hurts this person and that hurts this other person. All of it will be true but right now every time we fund something it lands completely on the property owners.

The myth that renters actually pay property taxes will fade quickly under this system. After all, the property tax relief should feed a drop in rent if they are correct. They are of course wrong because the market determines rent and not taxes.

You want proof?

Let the assembly try to put one bond on the ballot where everybody would have to pay. It will go down in flames. Now, if it does not maybe we can get somewhere.