Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB) is the borough government for Fairbanks, North Pole and surrounding Interior Alaska communities. Its assembly and mayor set borough taxes, zoning, parks, flood management, emergency medical services and elections for Alaska's second-most-populous borough.
Photo: Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska via Wikimedia Commons · Photo source · Public domain
fnsb.gov ↗Fairbanks, AK, USA
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Photo: Quintin Soloviev via Wikimedia Commons · Photo source · CC BY 4.0
Fairbanks economic panel could recommend changing its role in sister city ties
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Economic Development Commission could recommend changes to its role in the borough's sister city relationships when it meets Nov. 20, according to the meeting agenda.
Under borough code, sister city ties are meant to develop international trade and tourism, educate residents and build cultural awareness. The borough formally became a sister city of Mombetsu, Japan, in 1991, according to the Consulate-General of Japan in Anchorage.
The code also created a separate, nine-member Sister City Commission in 2004. It is to advise the mayor and Assembly on new sister city affiliations, develop a sister city program and review proposals from citizen committees.
In July, Tom Hewitt, special assistant to Mayor Grier Hopkins, asked for the economic development commission's feedback on updating its own responsibilities for sister city relationships. Members discussed the Sister City Commission's history, incorporating new duties and possible relationships with other countries, according to the July minutes. They planned to come back with more research and a draft recommendation.
Any recommendation would go to Hopkins, who chairs the commission. He could then propose changes by ordinance for the Borough Assembly to consider.
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Stories on what’s next
Fairbanks North Star Borough — Administrative Hearings
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Public Hearing on 2028 Arctic Winter Games Funding
Fairbanks mayor seeks $200,000 in borough savings for 2028 Arctic Winter Games
Fairbanks hosts the Arctic Winter Games again in 2028, and the borough mayor wants $200,000 in savings to help raise the more than $6 million it'll take.
Federal Flood Map Effective Date for Fairbanks North Star Borough
Fairbanks gets new flood maps in January, and most homes in the zone are uninsured
Fairbanks gets new federal flood maps in January, its first update since 1992. Three of every four homes already in the flood zone carry no insurance.
New Flood Insurance Rate Maps Take Effect
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Latest
November 2026
Fairbanks planners take up request to rezone 10 Hamilton Acres lots for duplexes
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Self-driving cars are coming to Alaska to practice in the snow
Waymo says it'll test self-driving cars in Alaska's snow this winter. The governor points to Fairbanks, where the snow stays and the sun barely shows up.
by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago4 min read
Fairbanks borough mayor proposes capping whole-home short-term rentals
Fairbanks' borough mayor wants to cap whole-home short-term rentals and charge $250 a room to register them, saying they've shrunk the housing supply.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago4 min read
Fairbanks borough to show Growden and Kiwanis park renovation concepts Nov. 5
Fairbanks gets a first look Thursday at new playgrounds for Growden and Kiwanis parks, part of a $2.25 million fix-up borough budgets have carried for years.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
October 2026
Fairbanks City Council accepts $728,000 federal grant for ambulance bus
Fairbanks council accepted $728,000 in federal funds for a fire department ambulance bus holding up to 22 patients. • Bus aids mass-casualty response, city must fund crewing after year one. • Council also backed statewide e-bike rules and a plan for blighted properties.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min readFrom 
Fairbanks mayor proposes waiving school district's pool fee to keep kids learning to swim
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by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Fairbanks planning staff back data center pause and urge a 40,000-square-foot threshold
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by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fairbanks' new comprehensive plan won't ban data centers, despite calls for one
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Borough staff back letting a 1976 Fairbanks duplex keep both homes despite rezoning
Fairbanks officer decides Thursday if a 1976 Birch Lane duplex can keep both units despite now sitting in single-family zoning.
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Fairbanks board approves 8 industrial lots on land split without approval in 1974
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Fairbanks borough panel backs grant bids for a Chena Lake loop and a Tanana Lakes trailhead
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Fairbanks panel upholds euthanasia order for a German shepherd reported 26 times
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Fairbanks adopts flood maps that take about 2,900 buildings out of the high-risk zone
Fairbanks adopted new flood maps that take about 2,900 buildings out of the high-risk zone and put about 540 in. Salcha comes out ahead; Moose Creek doesn't.
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Proposal deadlines have passed on two Air Force plans to lease Eielson land
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Geist Road clinic seeks permit to expand and approval for a lot it already built
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by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fairbanks Assembly picks developers' riverbank overlay at planned Chena RV park
Fairbanks rezoned a Chena riverbank strip at a planned RV park, picking the developers' looser overlay over the stricter one its own riverfront panel wanted.
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Coming up
Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Regional Emergency Services Advisory Committee
Mona Lisa Drexler Assembly Chambers, Juanita Helms Administration Center, 907 Terminal Street, Fairbanks, AK
Meeting
2026 18 AAC 50 Fairbanks Nonattainment Area Split Regulations – Public Hearing (Fairbanks)
Hearing
Fairbanks North Star Borough Platting Board Work Session
Meeting
Fairbanks North Star Borough — Administrative Hearings
Meeting
Fairbanks North Star Borough — Economic Development Commission
Meeting
About Fairbanks North Star Borough
Photo: Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska via Wikimedia Commons · Photo source · Public domain
fnsb.gov ↗Fairbanks, AK, USA
The Fairbanks North Star Borough is the borough government for Fairbanks, North Pole and the surrounding communities of Interior Alaska. An elected mayor and Assembly set borough taxes, zoning and land use rules, and the borough runs parks, trails, pools and emergency medical services.
Its planning commission and Assembly decide rezones, subdivisions and floodplain rules along the Chena and Tanana rivers. Recurring questions include property tax caps and exemptions, how borough elections are run and counted, rules for large data centers, and the upkeep of parks, pools and recreation areas. Voters in the borough decide ballot initiatives on taxes and elections.
Appointments to some borough boards are shared with the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole. The borough's work touches nearby institutions such as Eielson Air Force Base and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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Fairbanks ordinance would shift board appointments from Assembly to borough mayor
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