Juneau clerk certifies 1% seasonal sales tax petition, Assembly has 45 days to act

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly has 45 days to enact a 1% seasonal sales tax or let voters decide, after the Municipal Clerk certified a citizen initiative petition and forwarded it to the Assembly.

The clerk's office verified at least 2,566 valid signatures out of 3,231 submitted, meeting the threshold for certification under CBJ code. Petitioners submitted the signatures on June 5, 2026. The certification was issued June 12, 2026, triggering the 45-day window under CBJ Charter Section 7.10(a). If the Assembly does not adopt substantially similar legislation within that period, the initiative will go before voters at the next regular election.

"We have certified the 1% seasonal sales tax initiative petition, so we forwarded that off on Friday to the Assembly to notify them of the 45 days if they would like to enact similar legislation," the Municipal Clerk said at Thursday's special meeting. The June 18 meeting did not include Assembly debate on the merits of the tax. The clerk reported only that certification had occurred and the 45-day review period had begun. Mayor Beth Weldon acknowledged the workload the review required. "Thank you for all your work, because I do know that that is time-consuming to go through all those signatures," Weldon said.

Second Petition in Review

A second petition, a Mill Rate Cap Change Charter Amendment, is also under review. The clerk's office said it received that petition and began reviewing signatures, having started that work the day before the June 18 meeting. The clerk did not report a final outcome on the mill rate cap petition's signature count at the meeting.

The Assembly has until the end of the 45-day window, running from the June 12 certification date, to adopt substantially similar legislation or allow the seasonal sales tax question to go before voters at the next regular election.