The Assembly Finance Committee continues to make progress on the budget, staying on pace and on schedule. The committee met on April 18 and accomplished the following:
- Approved $860,000 to Travel Juneau; funding comes from hotel tax revenue. Travel Juneau typically gets 4/7 of CBJ’s hotel tax revenue, while Centennial Hall gets the rest.
- Approved Alaska Small Business Development Center’s funding request of $28,000
- Approved $300,000 to the Juneau Economic Development Council. JEDC requested an additional $25,000 and a one-time request of $165,000. Both of those requests are on the Finance Committee’s pending list.
- Approved $1.9 million from the general fund for the Juneau pools.
Due to a couple members not being present, the Finance Committee postponed action on the Marine Passenger Fee Recommendations.
Now onto what’s coming up: April 25 is your chance to tell the Assembly what you think about the budget! The public can comment on the CBJ operating budget, the Juneau School District general operating budget, capital improvement projects, and the property tax mill levy rate (the manager has proposed 10.66, the same as last year) at a public hearing during a Special Juneau Assembly Meeting on April 25 at 5:30 p.m. This is also the time when the Assembly is scheduled to make a preliminary decision on the Juneau School District budget funding.
Immediately following the April 25th Special Assembly Meeting, the Assembly will meet in Finance Committee and hear from the Youth Activities Board, Downtown Business Association and Bartlett Regional Hospital. The committee will also hear presentations on the proposed mill rate (which is 10.66, the same as last year) and debt service.
Also, a heads up – the May 2 Assembly Finance Committee meeting is in the process of being rescheduled.