Juneau ordinance would spend $2.5 million in general funds to clear Eaglecrest deficit

An ordinance on the Juneau Assembly's agenda Monday would spend $2,499,400 in general funds to clear Eaglecrest Ski Area's operating deficit for fiscal 2026 and earlier years, according to the Nov. 16 agenda packet. The city manager recommends introducing it Monday and setting a public hearing for the Assembly's next regular meeting.

The Assembly had already set aside $2,505,400 in its Restricted Budget Reserve to cover the deficit. The full reserved amount would be released once the ordinance passes, the packet says. A February resolution proposed reserving up to $3,045,800 and kept that money unavailable until the deficit was resolved through positive operations or the Assembly decided to pay it off from the reserve.

The Assembly accepted the deficit expecting a gondola to lift the city-owned ski area's revenue. "That trajectory was based on the gondola coming to fruition and that operation starting in May of '28. With that decision, about $2.5 million was recognized as a deficit," Finance Director Angie Flick said at an April 1 Assembly Finance Committee meeting, after the committee moved to stop the gondola as a city project.

With the gondola deal over, the Finance Committee on Nov. 4 asked for an ordinance to pay off the deficit from general funds rather than the reserve and directed staff to draft it.

At a Nov. 2 Assembly worksession, Flick said the reserve held about $17.6 million and "should have $24 million." About $3.2 million had been drawn for glacial lake outburst flood expenses, and together with the Eaglecrest set-aside that came to about $5.7 million, she said. Paying the deficit from regular unrestricted general funds "would take you from $17 million up to $19.5 million," she said.

Eaglecrest reported about $4.8 million in expenses and $3 million in revenue for fiscal 2026, which ended June 30, according to an Eaglecrest Finance Committee report. That revenue included $930,000 in city support. The ski area brought in about $2.1 million on its own and lost about $1.8 million.

For the current fiscal year, the city nearly doubled its support for Eaglecrest, to $1.68 million. By late October, the ski area had brought in about $2.77 million of its $4.26 million budget.