We encourage Juneau taxpayers to contact their Assembly members and ask them to amend the latest proposal to annex several parts of Admiralty Island. We believe CBJ should support the motion presented by Assembly member Ron Edwardson and not attempt to annex any land on Admiralty.
Some Assembly members argue that some other borough will preempt Juneau’s “claim” to Admiralty Island, or that some elected official or state agency wants to move all of Alaska into the “Model Boroughs” that state planners suggested in the 1990s. Yet, no other borough has indicated any interest in annexing Admiralty Island, and if one did, Juneau would have plenty of opportunity to argue its case before the Local Boundary Commission. We have also been unable to identify any State of Alaska directive to suddenly move all of Alaska into urban boroughs, dissolving the Unorganized Borough that was specifically established at Statehood to account for the unique geography, economics, and population of areas such as Admiralty Island.
Any petition to the Local Boundary Commission is required to fulfill a long list of requirements. Admiralty Island does not fit any of them! As citizens and taxpayers of CBJ, we are concerned that the Borough will face substantial expense to fight the legal challenge(s) that will inevitably be brought if the current petition is carried forward. Just two years ago an assembly study group concluded that the proposed annexation was not a viable course, yet a huge amount of staff and assembly members’ time is still being spent pursuing the annexation issue. It will take years for any income from taxing newly annexed areas to offset that expense if it continues, never mind the costs of trying to govern and extend so-called “essential services” to remote areas of Admiralty that do not need or ask for them.
We hope taxpayers will urge the Assembly and staff to focus their time and attention on meeting needs within the present CBJ boundaries—many of which are unfulfilled or unable to be financed in this time of decreased budgets.
Tom and Marge Osborn,
Juneau