Haines voters choose a mayor and decide five tax and planning measures

Haines Borough voters are choosing a mayor, two Assembly members, four Planning Commission members and four School Board members Tuesday, while also deciding five tax and government measures.

The mayor's race pits two former mayors, Jan Hill and Douglas Olerud. Mayor Tom Morphet, who defeated Hill in 2023, is not on the ballot.

Four candidates are running for two Assembly seats: A. Beau Bradley, Anne Marie Palmieri, Diana Lapham and Lee Robinson.

Six candidates are running for four elected Planning Commission seats, three three-year terms and one one-year term: Erika Merklin, George R. Campbell, Kimberly A. Rosado, Nathanael Reams, Nick Szatkowski and Zeke Frank.

Six candidates are running for four School Board seats: Burl Sheldon, Cara Gilbert, Carlos Jimenez, Jenn Walsh, Kevin Shove and Michael Wald.

Three measures are citizens' initiatives; the Assembly put the two new taxes on the ballot.

Initiative 1 would end direct election of the Planning Commission, restoring a seven-member commission appointed by the mayor with Assembly approval and reversing a 2023 charter change that made the seats elective. The ballot materials don't explain what would happen to commissioners elected Tuesday if it passes.

Initiative 2 would lower the ceiling on the borough's senior property-tax exemption from $300,000 to $200,000 of assessed value. The borough now exempts a senior's primary-residence value between $150,000 and $300,000, so that band would shrink from $150,000 to $50,000.

Initiative 3 would repeal the seasonal sales-tax system voters approved in 2025. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, it would restore year-round rates of 5.5% in the townsite, 4% areawide outside the townsite and 3.5% in Excursion Inlet. It would also end the winter grocery exemption at SNAP-authorized stores. The existing system charges 7% in the townsite from April through September and 4.5% from October through March.

Proposition 1 would add a 2% sales tax on alcoholic beverages for the general fund.

Proposition 2 would tax timber and sand, gravel or rock exported for sale or commercial use outside the borough, at $5 per thousand board feet and 15 cents per ton. Mining in the borough would be taxed at 4.5% of gross production value, with revenue going to the borough's permanent fund. Mines could instead pay under payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements, each requiring separate voter approval.

The borough's election page includes no fiscal estimates for the five measures.

Polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm. Haines No. 1 votes at the ANB/ANS Hall. Haines No. 2 votes at the Klehini Valley Fire Department. Voters can confirm their precinct through the Haines Borough election page.

Results are unofficial until the borough completes its canvass and certification.