The Koelsch for Mayor campaign has made senior tax exemptions its top campaign issue. Ron Somerville, a Koelsch campaign surrogate, recently wrote a letter to the editor telling seniors, “you stand to lose the rest of your limited sales tax exemptions and possibly your property tax exemption.”
I resent such fear tactics. The senior sales tax exemption was decided some months ago by a vote of 7-2 of the Assembly. Food and essential services remain exempt for seniors. The senior property tax exemption is a State of Alaska requirement, and is not on the table. There are plenty of struggling single parents in Juneau who have none of the privileges afforded to seniors, so let’s dispense with the “woe is me” laments.
Perhaps the worst of Somerville’s laments can be found on his blogsite, http://juneauseniorcitizens.com. The site, touted by Ken Koelsch in recent public forums, asks Juneau seniors to punish the City and Borough of Juneau for adjusting the senior sales tax exemption by buying items on Amazon.com or shopping in Seattle or Anchorage instead of purchasing items that are taxed in Juneau (note that Seattle’s sales tax is 9.5 percent). The site advises Juneau seniors to “save on personal costs by decreasing volunteering efforts on local community programs” and “save by decreasing donations to local community programs.”
If the sales tax exemption poses that much of a hardship on them, Somerville and his friends could take the opportunity to leave town aboard a Marine Highway ferry while it remains an option. Too bad about global warming; there might have been the more honorable option of floating away on an ice floe.
Most seniors in this community get the picture. We’re facing an economic downturn unseen since the 1980s. I find it hard to believe that Somerville and Koelsch, both of whom have benefitted, as I have, from generous government pensions and health plans, object to paying a few dollars more to fund education and keep people in our community working.
I’m voting for Karen Crane — a straight shooter and sensible manager who will do everything in her power to lead Juneau through what is going to be a very rough ride.
Kimberly Metcalfe
Juneau