Juneau Assembly passes budget that maintains flat property tax rate

After weeks of budget work by the Assembly Finance Committee, the Juneau Assembly passed the Fiscal Year 2021 budget at Monday night’s Regular Assembly Meeting. The $385.7 million budget includes cuts to CBJ positions and the Capital Improvement Plan, and does not increase the property tax rate from last year.

At the beginning of the budget process, the Finance Committee wrestled with a revenue shortfall of $34.5 million over the next 30 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Assembly was able to maintain the property tax rate for 2020 at 10.66 mills due to the State of Alaska’s community distribution of federal CARES Act funding, $53 million of which was allocated to Juneau. Of this amount, $11 million is budgeted to offset CBJ operating expenditures in the next two fiscal years. CARES Act funding will also be used to cover certain CBJ personnel costs related to COVID-19  and for community services, like funding for the new COVID-19 childcare program, rental assistance grants, business sustainability grants, and emergency shelter.

To further balance the budget, the Assembly cut $1.5 million in CBJ staff positions and $13 million from the Capital Improvement Plan, including a one-year delay of the $3.3 million Augustus Brown Pool deferred maintenance project. The final budget is balanced by a $3.1 million draw from savings. The Assembly Finance Committee anticipates continuing to work on the FY21 budget throughout the year as the fiscal health of CBJ becomes more discernible.

For more information, contact Finance Director Jeff Rogers at 586-0300 or [email protected].​