Anchorage proposal would give tax-exempt property owners 90 days to certify they qualify

The Anchorage Assembly is scheduled to take up an ordinance at its Oct. 20 meeting that would give owners of tax-exempt property 90 days to certify they still qualify once the assessor asks, instead of the current March 15 certification deadline.

Owners of nonprofit religious, charitable, cemetery and educational property don't have to recertify unless ownership or use changes or the assessor asks, though hospitals must recertify every year. When the city's Property Appraisal Division does ask, many owners respond on or near March 15, according to the mayor's memorandum. Exemption decisions generally must be made by May 15 for tax billing, so much of the work is concentrated in a short window each spring. A rolling deadline would let the division spread its requests and reviews through the year. Municipal Assessor Jack Gadamus told the Assembly at an Aug. 7 work session it would help "smooth out that work a little bit more throughout the year."

The change comes out of an audit of fully tax-exempt property the Assembly requested in March. In a July report, the division said about 570 high- and medium-priority exemption files still need review and that, at current staffing, it expects to finish in late 2031 or early 2032, as Alaska News reported. In 2023, the division dedicated about 55% of one employee's time to reviewing fully exempt property. Most of the remaining files are medium priority, generally ones where paperwork may be incomplete or outdated but the property's use still appears to match the exemption.

The division estimates about $52.1 million in exempt value may turn out to be taxable, worth about $811,000 a year in property taxes, or about 0.12% of the city's 2026 levy, an effect it calls relatively small. The estimate builds on reviews so far: of about 60 high-priority files checked for 2026, one property lost its exemption because it no longer qualified and another because the owner missed the deadline.

Under the ordinance, an exemption would expire if the owner misses the 90-day window, but the owner could reapply by the March 15 application deadline. The ordinance would also spell out, for all state and municipal exemptions, that owners must report changes affecting eligibility, such as ownership, use or residency, and that the assessor can require written proof at any time. Ownership or use changes would be due within 30 days, a rule the code now spells out for nonprofit exemptions.

Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration requested the ordinance and recommends approval. If passed, it would take effect March 16, 2027, the day after next year's deadline.