Katie Anastas

The Juneau School District will eliminate two staff positions and change the way others are funded to address a budget deficit caused by Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s education funding veto.

The district will eliminate one administrative job and one position in HomeBridge, the district’s homeschool program. In an interview, Administrative Services Director Cassee Olin said neither cut will lead to a layoff — the HomeBridge staffer is retiring, and the administrative position was new and hasn’t been posted yet.

“We held it back because of these very reasons,” Olin said.

The district built its budget around a $430 increase to the base student allocation, the state’s per-student funding formula. But last month, Dunleavy vetoed half of the Legislature’s $175 million, one-time funding increase for public schools. That left the district with a $758,000 shortfall.

Eliminating the administrative position will save $140,000, and the HomeBridge position will save $110,000. Other savings will come from changing the way positions are funded. The district will fund four teaching positions using pandemic aid funding, freeing up $396,000 in general funds. 

The district’s budget had already used $1.6 million in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding to pay for some teachers and online classroom materials. But that funding expires at the end of this fiscal year, so district leaders will have to find another way to fund those positions.

Those changes still leave the district with a $112,000 shortfall. They’ll use some money from savings to fill that gap. Olin said that will leave the district with about $500,000 in savings – “a pretty low number for us.” 

District leaders around the state have spent the last few weeks adjusting their budgets in the wake of Dunleavy’s veto. The Kenai Peninsula School District is using savings to fill its budget gap. The Kodiak Island Borough School District is using about half of their remaining savings and reducing spending on supplies and maintenance.

Juneau residents who run short-term rentals will have to register their businesses with the city starting this fall.

The Juneau Assembly approved the program at a meeting Monday night. City leaders say it will help ensure operators are paying sales tax and provide data on the growing short-term rental market – data that could eventually shape restrictions on them amid Juneau’s housing crunch.

Assembly member Wade Bryon said it was the result of many meetings over the last year.

“We’ve had probably 20 hours worth of discussion of short-term rentals,” he said. “This ordinance did not come about overnight.”

The registration program will assign a unique number to each unit and require operators to include that number in online listings. They’ll face a $25 fee each time they fail to include the number with a listing. 

The Assembly considered an earlier version of the program at its June meeting but decided it needed more work after rental operators spoke against it. The new version removes requirements for rental operators to give emergency contact information or describe amenities when registering. 

The Assembly also approved a later start date for the program – it’ll go into effect in 90 days instead of 30.

Still, five short-term rental operators spoke in opposition to the revised version. Bed-and-breakfast owner Dale Anderson told the Assembly the additional paperwork would be a burden on the operators who do pay their taxes. 

“I find it objectionable that you are placing these onerous restrictions on my business, that I have totally run above board according to CBJ guidelines, in order to catch the bad guys,” he said.

Mayor Beth Weldon introduced an amendment to allow property managers to register on behalf of the property owners. It came after Juneau resident Kelli Ballou described her role as a broker for short-term rental owners.

“If the property owner who pays me also has to have his own business license and tax account, and also do quarterly reporting and annual registration renewals, then that takes all the value out of the service I’m selling them,” she said. “I won’t be worth much if they have to do all the work.”

The amendment passed, along with one that notes the financial responsibility for taxes and penalties ultimately falls on the property owner.

The registration program doesn’t limit the number of rentals one person can register, nor does it charge a registration fee. But Assembly members acknowledged that they’ve already been talking about steps they could take to further regulate short-term rentals. For example, Sitka requires short-term rental owners to live on the property for half of the year.

“There is the possibility that regulation might be coming,” Juneau Assembly member Michelle Hale said on Monday. “That might be happening, and I don’t want to pretend that it might not be happening.”

Member Maria Gladziszewski said the registration program will help ensure they take those next steps thoughtfully.

“This is, for me, about getting data. We have some pressure from our community to do something about short-term rentals,” she said. “I’m not in favor of quote ‘doing something’ about short-term rentals when we don’t have data.”

The registration program will begin in October.

The city will ask Juneau residents again whether to fund a new city hall.

At a meeting Monday night, Assembly members voted to put a $27 million bond proposal on this October’s ballot. 

“A new facility would have a number of positive attributes for the city and our citizens,” City Manager Rorie Watt read from the ordinance. “An end to office space rent payments in excess of $800,000 annually, the freeing up of historic apartment spaces and the ability for customers and employees to do municipal business in a more efficient manner.”

Last month, the Assembly also authorized the city to spend $50,000 to advocate for the project through presentations, postcards and social media posts. That came after Juneau residents narrowly voted down the city’s request to borrow up to $35 million for the city hall project last year.

Juneau’s city hall needs several interior and exterior repairs, and it’s too small to fit all city staff. The project is expected to cost $43 million, and the Assembly has already appropriated $16 million for it. If the bond doesn’t pass, the Assembly could reallocate that money. 

The city’s preferred location for a new city hall is 450 Whittier Street, across the street from the state museum. According to the ordinance, the city doesn’t expect to increase the property tax mill rate if the bond passes.

The city could also get some money by selling the old city hall. Nearby buildings have sold for more than $3 million.

“A new structure would be more economical to maintain, as the existing city hall is one of our most expensive municipal buildings to maintain,” Watt said Monday.

But according to a 2022 economic analysis of the project, overall operations costs would increase. That’s because the city’s rental agreements at other office locations include energy, water and garbage costs in the rent.

“Because the nearly 50,000 square foot new building will be significantly larger than the current city hall building, costs will increase in every operations category,” the analysts wrote.

Six Juneau residents spoke at Monday night’s meeting about the bond. Some questioned the ethics of city staff advocating for a project voters rejected last year.

Downtown resident Sally Wilson said she wanted the city to present a more complete picture of the project costs: the price of getting the existing city hall suitable for sale, fees related to breaking rental agreements at other office space and maintenance costs at the new building.

“I’m not advocating for a new city hall, I’m not advocating against a new city hall,” she said. “But I do want to stress the importance of trying to present all of the financial costs and benefits relating to this project.”

Municipal election day is Oct. 3.

Skagway’s railroad workers are voting on whether to authorize a strike.

The workers’ union says it’s seeking wages that keep up with inflation, affordable health care and no job cuts. The dispute is playing out amid a cruise season that’s expected to be bigger than ever this year. If the union doesn’t reach an agreement with White Pass, a strike could cause major disruptions to one of Southeast Alaska’s most popular tourist attractions.

“More than half of the passengers that come through Skagway ride the train,” said Mayor Andrew Cremata. “Skagway’s history is linked with the railroad, so losing operations on the railroad would definitely have a significant impact.”

The White Pass and Yukon Route runs from Skagway into Canada’s Yukon Territory. It’s the largest private employer in Skagway.

Jason Guiler chairs SMART Transportation Division Local 1626, the union that represents the 27 Alaska-based engineers, conductors and brakemen who work for White Pass. He said he’s worried about permanent cuts to brakeman positions – one of three workers on the train at all times, and the one responsible for the brakes. He said the union views it as a safety concern.

“Having three people on board a train is critical when you’re carrying 600-plus guests on board,” he said.

Guiler said the union’s previous contract ended in 2017, and wages and health care costs are other key issues for the union as it negotiates a new one. 

Even if the union votes to authorize a strike, it wouldn’t happen right away. The national mediator would have to release workers from mediation. Then, the mediator would offer both the union and the company the chance to have an arbitrator analyze the situation and reach a verdict. If either group rejects the offer to arbitrate, a strike could happen 30 days later.

White Pass is owned by an investment group that includes the Carnival Corporation and Ketchikan-based Survey Point Holdings. 

“White Pass and Yukon Route is committed to working towards the resolution of these negotiations in the interests of all involved,” the railroad’s Executive Director Tyler Rose said. “However, we do not believe it is appropriate to further comment to the media on the mediation process at this time.”

Cremata said he hopes White Pass executives realize the role that workers play in keeping people safe on and off the train.

“If you’re in Skagway on a busy day – which is every day here in the summer – the trains go through easements across city roads and a lot of people are moving back and forth,” he said. “A lot of them have their heads buried in a phone, or they’re taking a picture and not paying attention, and I worry about safety.”

Guiler said he couldn’t share specifics on the wage increases proposed by both parties, but he said the union recognized the company’s lost profit during the pandemic. He said the union is “strictly looking to” increase wages to keep up with inflation.

Cremata said that’s important for Skagway residents.

“It’s expensive to live here,” he said. “In the last couple of years, I’ve seen prices at the grocery store double, if not more. So it concerns me to think that people who live in this community may not be able to afford to live in this community anymore.”

Union members have three days to vote. They’re set to meet with company representatives and a mediator on Friday morning.

“From there, I’m hopeful that that mediation meeting will move in a forward direction that can help bring us and the company together,” Guiler said.

Cremata said Skagway’s tourist season is going well so far, and he hopes White Pass and its workers can reach an agreement soon.

“The impacts to White Pass from a strike would certainly be severe,” he said. “But the impacts of having people work in this community and not being able to make a fair wage also has a significant impact.”

Juneau Assembly Member Carole Triem is resigning from her seat, effective July 10. Triem said it will be hard to say goodbye to the Assembly, city staff and Juneau.

“It’s not easy to leave Juneau, although I will say making the decision to go with my husband and help our family was not a difficult decision,” she said. “I’m really sad about all the circumstances involved, and I’m really going to miss the Assembly.”

Triem is leaving her seat to care for a family member with medical needs in Australia.

She was elected to the Assembly in 2018 for a one-year term and reelected for three-year terms in 2019 and 2022. 

“I’ve been with this group of people, mostly unchanged, through a lot,” Triem said. “I think that was really important — that there was an experienced Assembly through COVID and then coming out of COVID.”

Triem also chairs the finance committee. She said she’ll meet with Mayor Beth Weldon and staff from the city’s finance department to discuss how to improve the community funding request process.

“I have some strong feelings on that and would like to improve that process and leave that as my parting gift to the Assembly to make their lives easier next April,” Triem said.

Triem’s resignation means there will be four Assembly seats up for grabs in the October municipal election. Two of those seats will be areawide. The three-year term will go to the candidate with the most votes, and the candidate with the second most votes will serve the remaining two years of Triem’s term.

With a new city manager, new finance director and four open Assembly seats, Triem said Juneau has an opportunity to “refresh the energy” of its leaders.

“We got through this major, literally life-or-death crisis,” she said. “Now, the issues are different, but they’re also really important. Tourism, the city budget, all of these things I think are important issues that need energetic people to take them on.”

Triem said she’s not sure when she’ll return to Juneau, or whether she’ll run for office again. But she called her time on the Juneau Assembly “massively rewarding.”  

“It’s the most important thing I’ve done in my life so far,” Triem said. “Worth the sacrifices, worth the late nights.”

This story has been updated.

The Juneau Assembly has authorized city staff to advocate for a new city hall. 

At a special Assembly meeting Monday night, members authorized the city manager to spend $50,000 to provide information about the project. 

“Clearly, we would be trying to influence the outcome of the election,” said City Manager Rorie Watt. “We believe that a new city hall is in the best interest of our citizens.”

Voters narrowly rejected a bond proposal for the project last year, and they’ll likely have another chance to vote on it this October. Last year, the Assembly voted against spending $25,000 to advocate for the project. 

The Alaska Public Offices Commission requires the Assembly to appropriate funds through an ordinance if it wants staff to influence an election.

Juneau’s city hall needs several repairs. And it’s too small to fit all city staff, so the city rents other office space. Buying another building in Juneau isn’t a viable option, according to a real estate consultant hired by the Assembly.

Watt said the $50,000 would offset costs for existing staff to give presentations, post on social media or do other tasks involved in advocating for the project. The only new cost would likely be for postcards sent to voters in the mail.

“We’re not hiring anybody new to work on this,” Watt said.

Five people spoke at Monday’s meeting, all in opposition to the spending.

“The community said no to this project,” said North Douglas resident Scott Spickler. “The project should stand on its own merits.” 

Auke Bay resident Wayne Coogan said he was concerned about the city “advocating in a political manner for a project that was voted down by more than half the people.”

“They voted nay on the project,” he said. “We’re using their money to advocate against their vote.”

The Assembly still needs to vote whether to put the city hall bond proposal on the October ballot. Members of the public can comment at the July 10 meeting.