Assembly Briefs: taxes, past and future election,

Takshanuk Watershed Council tax error

Takshanuk Watershed Council will not have to pay a property tax bill it received this year. Untangling this took the assembly roughly 20 minutes of digging into why the watershed council got the bill in the first place.

The watershed council applied for multiple community-purpose exemptions in 2025 for five properties, including the parcel housing its office and classroom building. A few days after the watershed council applied, the assessor determined that two of its five properties qualified. After approval, those exemptions are valid for three years.

Community-purpose exemptions were reviewed by the commerce committee in May 2025. The committee decided that both of the Watershed Council’s approved parcels should only get a partial exemption, excluding the value of the office building.

“At that time, we said that their land can be exempt, but not the building,” said assembly member Cheryl Stickler, who was on the commerce committee at the time.

But when the assembly approved the final list of properties with tax-exemptions in May 2025, both of the council’s parcels were recorded as being 100% tax-exempt, instead of the land-only exemptions that the committee had approved.

When borough staff realized the error this year, they attempted to correct it by sending a tax bill for the value of the building. The watershed council contested the bill, saying it qualified for the exemption.

Mark Sogge, board president of the watershed council, told the assembly the Takshanuk Watershed office building is “used for educational purposes that are open to the public.”

Stickler said the commerce committee did not know at the time that the building was being used for educational purposes. That’s despite the organization having submitted documentation showing that it was and that it was open to the public. Borough staff did not show committee members the documentation, and borough manager Alekka Fullerton told them the building was not open to the public during the meeting.

As assembly members spoke about how to fix this error, assembly member Kevin Forster suggested that the borough relieve the organization of paying its property taxes this year, instead of going back and changing last year’s community-purpose exemption document. The watershed council will not have to pay taxes on its property or building for 2026. The organization can apply again next year, by March 31, for the community-purpose exemption.

Park land decision to go to voters

After multiple discussions of what to do with the park on Third and Main streets, assembly members voted to send the issues to voters. During the 2027 municipal election, voters will decide whether the borough should sell the parcel or maintain it as a park. Assembly member Mark Smith said that the property is “prime real estate” and that the lot should be put up for sale.

“The only thing I’ve seen since I’ve been in town are demonstrations,” Smith said about the lot.

Advocates for maintaining the lot as a park and public space cite wanting a green space in downtown.

Tribal government purchases

In the past, the borough, as Fullerton put it, has treated tribes as nonprofits when it has come to tax exemptions for purchases.

However, tribes do not qualify as nonprofits. And, Fullerton said, they don’t fit neatly into other categories of tax-exempt entities either, even though the code exempts other governments as well.

“The code says other foreign governments,” Fullerton said.

The assembly has been considering a code change that adds tribes to the list of tax-exempt entities.

The measure passed 5-1 with Smith voting against it.

“I’m fundamentally opposed to any tax-exemptions for anybody,” he said.

Child care proposals

Outgoing Mayor Tom Morphet outlined recommendations from a child care task force that last met in September.

Among them was a proposal to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Chilkoot Indian Association to lease the existing Chilkat Valley Preschool building.

But that idea drew pushback from multiple people including Crystal Verhamme. Verhamme manages the Senior Center, and said seniors have been using the building extensively for decades. She submitted a proposal to repurpose the preschool building for community and senior use. It was signed by 22 people.

Assembly members Stickler and Smith suggested the government affairs and services committee create a subcommittee that focuses on child care. Assembly member Eben Sargent proposed that the assembly explore service-driven contracts for child care, using money from the borough’s economic development fund.

Sargent explained that this funding could be used to “provide small-scale child care, maybe just a week summer program or maybe some small thing.”

This resulted in a split vote, with Sargent, Kevin Forster and Craig Loomis in favor of seeking service-driven contracts and Smith, Stickler and Gabe Thomas in opposition. Mayor Morphet broke the tie in favor of the motion.

Lutak Dock management

The borough received two responses to its request for proposals for a Lutak Dock project manager.

One response came from Haines resident Clayton Jones, chief executive officer for Alaska Power & Engineering, and the other came from John Mortensen, principal at Fremontii, LLC. Fullerton said that both of these bids came in with a higher cost than she was expecting.

Jones’ proposal estimated a $367 an hour cost, while Fremontii proposed three people — a project manager, deputy project manager and consultant — with a combined total cost of $465.50 an hour.

Haines harbormaster Henry Pollan said that the two proposals are “dramatically different,” with one being more focused on time and expenses and the other being more comprehensive.

The assembly unanimously voted to direct staff to work with Alaska Power & Engineering and talk to Fremontii to see if they’re open to either part-time support or “alternate models” of support.

The post Assembly Briefs: taxes, past and future election, appeared first on Chilkat Valley News .