Eaglecrest eyes sales tax for more revenue
Supporters of Eaglecrest Ski Area may ask for a special nine-month 1 percent sales tax to raise revenue for the struggling facility.
The proposition is part of broader plans to open the area year-round to tourists and locals. Eaglecrest is a city-owned downhill and cross-country ski area in North Douglas.
Bob Janes Sr., a member of the booster club Friends of Eaglecrest and a ski-patrol volunteer, advocates putting the sales tax proposition on the October 2004 city ballot.
He was part of two efforts in the 1970s in which Juneau residents both times approved ballot propositions to enact a nine-month 1 percent sales tax to raise revenue for the ski area.
Eaglecrest Business Manager Gary Mendivil and Friends of Eaglecrest officer Debbie Hart said they will seriously consider Janes' proposal.
Juneau's sales tax is 5 percent. One percent is permanent, and the remaining 4 percent will end on July 1, 2007, city sales tax administrator Joan Roomsburg said. Voters must approve any extension of the sales tax.
Resident Sandy Warner, who has been tracking the Eaglecrest improvement plans, said she would support a temporary 1 percent sales tax to help Eaglecrest.
Officials may be able to better sell the tax plan at a time when a portion of the city's sales tax is ending, she said. The temporary sales tax could be used as part of the total tax instead of adding 1 percent to the 5 percent, she said.
The city's formal movement to improve Eaglecrest started this summer after the ski facility lost money in the last two of three years because of late and little snow.
Eaglecrest had a negative fund balance of $479,000 in June, which is the end of fiscal year 2003, Mendivil said. The city will give $363,100 to Eaglecrest for the 2003-04 season, but ski officials requested additional funds to help it out of its financial slump. The Assembly declined the request in July, and instructed Eaglecrest officials to work with the Juneau Economic Development Council to create a business plan to regain financial solvency.
JEDC, a private, non-profit management consultant firm, is helping Eaglecrest devise a business plan to be presented to the Assembly at the end of December, JEDC Business Counselor Eric Stewart said.
Eaglecrest's budget for fiscal year 2004 is $1.7 million. It strives to collect 75 percent of its revenue through its own operations, including fees and ticket sales, Mendivil said. The city has been subsidizing the remainder.
Ski officials have been floating the strategic plan at public meetings and soliciting input. Bob Janes Jr., owner of Gastineau Guiding Co., told Eaglecrest officials he would be interested in offering a combination of hiking, overnight cabin stays and possibly mountain biking. Janes' proposition was in response to Eaglecrest's request for statements of interest from the public, he said.
The draft strategic plan will be showcased at Eaglecrest today for the Season Pass Fair, which offers discounted passes through Nov. 8 to increase the number of users.
Physical improvements that would make the area open year-round for users such as cruise ship passengers, independent travelers and schoolchildren include:
• Upper and lower mountain trail improvements.
• Day-lodge rentals.
• Overnight cabin use.
• An elevated walkway through tree tops.
• Electrical power improvements.
Eaglecrest has not yet received funding for any improvement projects and will not have cost estimates for them until the business plan is completed, Mendivil said.
Ski officials want to achieve a positive fund balance by 2008.
To raise funds, they want to collect a portion of the city's cruise ship passenger revenue - which they have not done before. They are also eyeing regular sales tax revenue, general obligation bonds funded from state and federal sources, grants from foundations, and funds from environmental education foundations.
Eaglecrest submitted a $29,760 grant request to the state Department of Natural Resources to lay gravel along a 960-foot stretch of trail from the rock quarry to Treadwell Ditch Trail. That would provide better hiking and cross-country skiing conditions for users, Mendivil said. The state will announce next spring whether Eaglecrest will get the money, he said.
Officials want to open the day lodge year-round and especially have it used daily in the summer, he said. Eaglecrest would consider offering food service as well.
Officials also are considering a 25-foot-high suspended walkway through tree tops that would give users an aerial view of the ski area.
They want to build a trail to the Eagles Nest warming hut and convert it to an overnight public and commercial-use cabin for the summer months. Cabins could be built at the far end of Cropley Lake; in Hilda Meadows, possibly reached from the nordic trail; and along the lower nordic trail, which would be handicap-accessible.
A long-term plan would connect Eaglecrest to the main electrical grid at an estimated cost of $1 million. The ski area is powered by diesel generators in the winter and hydro electricity in the summer.
• Tara Sidor can be reached at tara.sidor@juneauempire.com.