There are a bunch of miscellaneous things going on.
As mentioned in my last post, Tuesday (1/13) there are meetings on landfill odor problem (Centennial Hall) and also Planning Commission consideration of the ATT towers in the Valley.
Monday night (1/12) is our regular Assembly meeting. There are a lot of ordinances being introduced, but not many for hearing. One of interest is an ordinance to cover cost overruns at the Jensen Olson Arboretum. You can see background on all this in the Agenda (click the link at the right).
The Urban Avalanche advisory website is now active. It is updated daily and you can see what the avalanche risk is given the current weather. http://www.juneau.org/avalanche/
The downtown transportation center and parking garage website http://www.juneau.org/engineering/DTC/DTC.php now includes a live video feed from atop the Sealaska building mms://live.upstreamnetworks.com/20080-49247 (requires a media player since it is a video and not just still pictures)
The Wetlands Review Board 2008 Annual Report to the Assembly is available at http://www.juneau.org/clerk/ASC/HRC/2009/documents/2008_WRB_Annual_Report.pdf
I think most of you know City Manager Rod Swope announced he will resign at the end of April. Thirty one applications have been received and the Assembly is currently in a screening process. Finalists will probably be interviewed at the end of February. The process will include a public meeting.
Finally, this Wednesday (1/14) at 5pm the Assembly Finance Committee will meet. A main agenda items will be the proposal to exempt grocery store food from sales tax. This is an issue that has caused me considerable angst. Sales taxes are the most regressive form of taxation, particularly when they include the basics of life-- food, shelter, utilities. But the exemption is predicted to cost about 4.5 million dollars and that money will either have to be replaced every year with other taxation, or have city services cut by that amount. Personally, I would support replacing the grocery sales tax with a one mill increase in property tax. But I think I am probably in a very small minority. Much more likely are proposals to cut city services to compensate and I do not think that is the path Juneau wants to take-- It is a path to decline. Additionally, this proposal comes at a time when the city budgets are already strained because sales and property tax revenues are down due to the economic recession.
It will be an interesting discussion.
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“We must recognize the full human equality of all of our people – before God, before the law, and in the councils of government. We must do this, not because it is economically advantageous – although it is; not because the laws of God command it – although they do; not because people in other lands wish it so. We must do it for the single and fundamental reason that it is the right thing to do.” – Robert Kennedy, June 6, 1966
1 comment:
Dear Jonathan,
Perhaps the Assembly could consider replacing the tax on food items with a borough-wide motor fuels tax.
I believe there is some kind of tax assessed for inventory. But there are questions as to whether it is biased favorable toward the cruise industry retail stores; their inventory is highest in the summer and lowest this time of year, when the tax is assessed. This doesn't seem equitable, especially when see so much of that summer revenue leave the community. Is there a way to make that more equitable?
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