The City Manager is proposing the FY2021 and 2022 biennial budget during an Assembly Finance Committee Meeting April 1 st .

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proposed budget may not fully take into consideration the potential impact of the virus on Juneau’s community and economy. Given the unprecedented level of uncertainty, this budget may be considered an “interim” or “draft” budget, with the intention to return to a formal budget process after the scope and scale of the spread of COVID-19 is more fully understood.

As it stands, the manager’s proposed citywide budget of $389 million, up $20.4 million from the FY20 Amended Budget, includes the following major components:

• $87.3 million for the Juneau School District, a decrease of $1.3 million (1.5%) over the FY20 Amended Budget. This decrease reflects targeted cuts made by the School District in response
  to State funding levels.
• $152.3 million for Enterprise Funds (hospital, airport, water utilities, docks, and harbors), an increase of $13.9 million (10%) over the FY20 Amended Budget. This change is due to an
  increase in Hospital and JIA expenditures.
• $78.3 million for general government, a decrease of $2.2 million (2.7%) from the FY20 Amended Budget. This was driven by decreases of one-time funding requests recommended by the
  Manager and the Assembly, offset by increases in personnel services and insurance costs.
• $50.6 million for initial capital improvement projects, an increase of $11.1 million (28.0%). Additional appropriations may be made throughout the year as funding gets committed.
• $15.7 million for the bond debt service budget, a decrease of $1.0 million (6.1%) over the FY20 Amended Budget. This reflects a reduction in outstanding school construction debt, as multiple
  bonds were fully paid off during FY20.

In light of COVID-19, the budget reflects revised projections of consumer tax revenues and passenger fees due to the impact the virus will have on Juneau’s 2020 and 2021 cruise ship seasons. Additionally, the budget proposes a property tax increase of 1 mil, for a total mill levy rate of 11.66. The breakdown of the proposed mill levy is: 10.46 mills for the operating budget, an increase of 1.0 mills over FY20, and 1.2 mills for debt service, remaining flat over FY20. With this proposed change, CBJ is projecting to collect $57.6 million in property tax revenues in FY21 which would offset the depletion of unrestricted fund balance and restricted budget reserve in light of reduced revenues from consumer tax and passenger fees due to the COVID-19 pandemic.