Mat-Su ordinance would lower areawide property tax cap to 7 mills

A proposed ordinance would cap the Matanuska-Susitna Borough's areawide real property tax rate at 7 mills, below the rate the borough charges now. The cap would limit how high future assemblies could set that rate for schools and borough services. It applies to the rate itself, not to total collections, which can still rise or fall as assessed property values change.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly has scheduled a public hearing on the measure, Ordinance 26-095, for its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, in the Assembly Chambers at 350 E. Dahlia Ave. in Palmer. The ordinance would amend borough code MSB 3.04.077(A) to lower the areawide real property tax cap from 9.5 mills to 7 mills. District 1 Assembly member Michael Bowles is the sponsor.

The borough adopted its fiscal year 2027 budget on May 7 with total spending of $467.6 million and an areawide mill rate of 7.955, down from 8.485. The borough said the change would cut taxes by about $54 for the average single-family home when areawide and non-areawide impacts are combined. A 7-mill cap would sit nearly a full mill under that current areawide rate.

Bowles has sponsored and advocated several tax proposals this year, including a measure to replace the areawide property tax with a sales tax. Describing his general position on borough taxes at an earlier meeting, he said, "This money belongs to the people that earn it."

The borough has taken up several competing tax structures in recent months. Alaska News previously covered the assembly's 6-3 vote in May to remove a proposed areawide sales tax from the agenda before it reached public hearing, and its later rejection of a ballot measure swapping the areawide property tax for a sales tax. A separate 2025 tax-cap proposal would have set a 10-mill areawide cap and a 0.55-mill non-areawide cap.

Residents may testify at the hearing for three minutes each, in person or by phone at 1-855-225-2326, or submit written comments to the assembly before the meeting at [email protected]. The assembly has not acted on the cap ordinance, and no vote will occur before the hearing closes.