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Sitka voters will decide Feb. 2 on a summer sales tax increase for child care
Sitka voters will decide Feb. 2 whether to add half a cent on the dollar to the city's summer sales tax to pay for child care. To vote, residents must be registered by Sunday, Jan. 3, the City and Borough of Sitka said in a reminder Friday.
If voters approve, the sales tax from April through September would rise from 6% to 6.5% starting April 1, 2027. A $10 summer purchase would carry 5 cents more in tax, and a $100 purchase 50 cents more, according to a city FAQ. The 5% winter rate wouldn't change.
City staff estimate the increase would raise about $1.19 million a year, more than the Assembly's $1 million goal, according to a ballot proposition memo.
The Assembly has spent months studying child care. Licensed programs serve about 204 children, while about 485 children up to age 9 may need regular care outside the home, according to a report the Assembly commissioned. Center-based infant care costs $24,413 a year, about a quarter of the area's median household income.
The money would go to grants for local child care providers, training for child care workers and scholarships to help families pay tuition. An outside organization chosen through a competitive process would run the program. After administrative costs, the sponsors suggested a rough split: 60% to providers, 20% to recruiting and keeping staff, 15% to family scholarships and 5% to a career training pathway.
The tax would end March 31, 2037, unless voters renew it. Long-term rentals wouldn't be affected, and the summer point already set aside for school buildings wouldn't change.
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Stories on what’s next
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Latest
Week of Nov 9
State cuts next spring's Sitka Sound herring limit 17% as its forecast drops
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by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago2 min read
Sitka High's random drug tests could expand beyond sports and add alcohol and nicotine
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by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago3 min read
Week of Nov 2
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by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago1 min read
Sitka weighs rezoning seven historic cemetery properties to allow only cemetery uses
Sitka's Assembly takes up rezoning seven historic cemetery properties for cemetery uses only. The VA has told the city local zoning doesn't apply to it.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read
Sitka Assembly takes final vote Tuesday on a child care sales tax ballot question
Sitka's Assembly takes its final vote Tuesday on asking voters for a half-point summer sales tax bump for child care. That's a nickel on a $10 purchase.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
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Sitka shoppers will pay no city sales tax Nov. 27 and 28, the days after Thanksgiving
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More from Sitka
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Week of Oct 26
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Week of Oct 19
Forest Service to replace 39-year-old Sitka oil boiler with electric heat and a heat pump
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State budget sends $24.3 million to fix up Mt. Edgecumbe's aging Sitka campus
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Coming up
Alaska Supreme Court oral argument: Breanna Martin, f/k/a Breanna Wampler v. Richard W. McGrath, City and Borough of Sitka Alaska
Anchorage, Boney Courthouse
Hearing
Alaska Supreme Court Hearing - Wampler v. McGrath, M.D., and City and Borough of Sitka
Hearing
Sales Tax Free Days 2026
Community event
Sitka Sales Tax Free Days
Public notice
Sitka Planning Commission Written Findings Adoption on Courthouse Proposal
Public notice
About Sitka
Sitka, known in Tlingit as Sheetʼká and historically as New Archangel, is a city and borough on Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska. It was the capital of Russian America, and the Tongass National Forest surrounds it.
The Sitka Assembly and planning commission decide questions of housing and zoning, taxes, utility fees and land use, including rules on backyard apartments and data centers. Commercial fishing, tourism and salmon hatchery management in Sitka Sound support the economy.
The Sitka Tribe of Alaska works on cultural matters that include the return of ancestors and sacred items from museum collections. Sitka shares Southeast Alaska with Juneau, Wrangell, Petersburg and other towns that face common questions about fisheries, sewage treatment and housing.
More from Sitka
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Week of Oct 12
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Week of Sep 28
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Cordova housing committee meets Tuesday as town works on shortage of at least 40 homes
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Sitka closes Moller Field's main parking lot for paving Oct. 7-8 and part of Lincoln Street for water line work
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University of Alaska Southeast students received about $1.47 million in Pell Grants last school year
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Sitka Assembly members set Oct. 21 meeting on taxi code rewrite
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