Skagway approves $6.5 million in RV park bonds; senior tax break passes by three votes

Skagway voters in the Oct. 6 municipal election approved borrowing up to $6.5 million for water, sewer and other work to turn the Garden City RV Park into housing lots, 238 to 151.

They also passed a tax break for seniors and disabled veterans, by three votes. The measure trailed 157 to 177 on election night. Absentee, special and questioned ballots counted two days later went 42 to 19 in favor, turning a 20-vote deficit into a 199 to 196 win. Turnout was 34 percent of the borough's 1,155 registered voters.

The bonds

A 2024 study for the municipality describes turning the 30-stall RV park into 24 residential lots. The Assembly is to decide in 2027 on platting and disposing of the lots, according to our preview. The borough estimated the bonds would cost about $12.83 million over 30 years, Alaska News reported before the vote. Sales tax and other money can pay them off, but property taxes must cover whatever those don't. Selling all of them would raise the borough's outstanding general obligation debt from $12.8 million to about $19.3 million.

An engineering estimate in May put construction at about $3.7 million if built in 2026. For a 2031 build, it recommended about $5.5 million to account for rising costs, administration and inspection, or about $5.8 million with an archaeological contingency and legal costs.

The tax break

The citizen initiative widens the senior sales tax exemption from local grocery purchases to all store purchases in Skagway by residents 65 or older. It also rewrites the property tax exemption for the primary homes of residents 65 or older, disabled veterans and widows or widowers 60 or older of a qualifying person. Borough Treasurer Heather Rodig estimated the lost revenue at under $90,000 a year.

The races

For two Assembly seats, KayLynn Howard drew 277 votes, Daniel J. Henry 242 and Jennifer Castle 146. Henry, who moved the bond ordinance, won a one-year seat as a write-in last October.

No School Board candidate was on the ballot. Write-ins Chloe Miller, with 173 votes, and Daniel Drahozal, with 135, edged out Kerri Raia, who had 127 and who won her one-year seat as a write-in last year.