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Screenshot of North Slope Mayor Josiah Patkotak being sworn in during the Assembly Meeting, Photo taken from the North Slope Borough Website · Photo source
North Slope voters reelect Patkotak and approve all 11 bonds worth about $1.55 billion
North Slope Borough voters reelected Mayor Josiah Patkotak and approved all 11 bond propositions on the Oct. 6 ballot, giving the borough authority to borrow up to about $1.55 billion, according to results the Borough Assembly certified Tuesday.
Patkotak received 989 votes to 639 for former Mayor Harry Brower Jr., about 60%. The two clashed during the campaign over roads and litigation.
The bonds
Every bond proposition passed with at least 73% of the vote. The largest, Proposition 4, allows up to $327.8 million for water facilities and passed 1,447 to 180.
The others cover light, power and heating systems ($217.5 million), sewage treatment ($204.3 million), general capital projects ($192.9 million), roads and flood control ($178 million), schools ($173.6 million), public safety ($96.7 million), sanitary facilities ($82.1 million), public housing ($76.5 million), communications ($2.4 million) and administrative facilities ($2.3 million). The administrative measure drew the most opposition, passing 1,196 to 425.
A yes vote authorizes the borrowing but doesn't require it. The Assembly decides when and how much to borrow, and the bonds would be repaid with property taxes levied "without limitation as to rate or amount," Alaska News reported before the election.
The borough's 2023-2028 capital plan says $814 million worth of its $4.8 billion in buildings and infrastructure would reach the end of its useful life over those six years.
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About Point Hope
Point Hope, also known as Tikiġaq, is an Iñupiaq community in the North Slope Borough, built on a gravel spit that extends into the Chukchi Sea. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in North America.
Bowhead whaling is central to the community, and the Nalukataq celebrations that follow the spring hunt share whale meat and muktuk with residents. Sea ice on the Chukchi coast, its breakup and its return, shapes hunting and travel.
Point Hope is one of the North Slope Borough's villages, and borough decisions on water, power, schools and search and rescue reach it along with the other coastal communities.