By a 7-2 vote, Juneau’s former assembly restructured our senior sales tax exemption program from one that applied to all purchases, to one that covers only food and utilities. According to CBJ Finance, the exemption now applies to about half of the average tax bill for resident seniors. This restructuring also included a needs-based option. At a time that the senior population is expanding while the city’s financial resources are shrinking, these two changes make the senior sales tax benefit more sustainable. I believe there will be a series of difficult decisions needed to balance our city budget and I applaud those 7 current and former members (from both sides of the political spectrum) who had the courage to make such a tough decision.
Governor Walker put it well when he said “deficits run downhill”. The first deficit dealt Juneau was the $4.8 million in Governor Walker’s veto of school debt reimbursement and other educational funds. These probably will not be the last deficits dealt to our city. It is critical that Juneau take steps to balance our own budget given the condition of the state budget.
As debates continue before the election, and long after for those who will ultimately serve, I hope they have the courage to face our fiscal reality and the fortitude to make those decisions that will result in keeping Juneau the city in which I want to continue to live, work, and volunteer. Kate Troll and six other Assembly members demonstrated that courage.
Please join me in voting to return Kate Troll to the Assembly.
Sally Saddler,
a beneficiary of the sale tax exemption,
Juneau