Budget
RSSAlaska News tracks budget issues affecting Alaska schools, municipalities, state agencies, and public services.
Alaska has drawn $15.7 billion in federal money this year
Alaska drew $15.72 billion in federal awards through August, ranking 45th among states and territories, with about $21,000 per resident so far this fiscal year.
by Melinda Communities.News4w ago1 min read
A grower denied renewal in June is still listed as active, owing $664,440
An Anchorage marijuana grower owes $664,440 in unpaid excise taxes and still appears active on state records months after the Marijuana Control Board denied its license renewal in December.
by Alaska Newsadded 4w ago2 min read
Unalaska keeps awarding more grant money than its formula produces
Unalaska's grant program keeps awarding more than its funding formula produces. The council eased the audit rules and left the formula alone.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 4w ago2 min read
Anchorage weighs a fiscal summit as property taxes carry the city
In 1982 the state covered 42 percent of Anchorage's operating costs. By 2024 it covered half a percent, and property taxes carried most of the rest.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Juneau would shift $4.5 million from barrier construction to repairs and debt
Juneau would move $4.5 million out of flood barrier construction into two reserves, one for riverbank repairs and one to start repaying the state loan.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks borough weighs a $303,346 replacement ambulance
Fairbanks North Star Borough Finance Committee votes Sept. 3 on a $303,346 ambulance for the non-areawide medical service covering areas outside city limits.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's school board says closures won't fix the budget; residents aren't so sure
Anchorage's school board says closing schools won't fix its budget — even as most residents, by the district's own survey, favor consolidation.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Two Juneau kids qualified, and the youth board's fund is nearly empty
Two Juneau kids qualified for national competition and asked the city youth board for $3,605. The board's contingency fund has $1,237.52 in it.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage keeps blowing past overtime budgets stuck on a 2010 baseline
Anchorage's police, fire and transit overtime again ran over budget, largely because the budgeted amounts still rest on an unadjusted 2010 baseline.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage schools will open a new listening effort with a $42 million shortfall
Anchorage School District is launching a listening effort, opening with the $42 million shortfall it projects for 2028. Past rounds drew complaints.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Bethel would move sand shed money to road salt and water plant engineering
Bethel wants to move about $55,000 from fixing its sand shed to buying road salt and helping engineer a water plant. The council takes public comment Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Wasilla staff float options to broaden the city sales tax, no vote yet
Wasilla staff are floating ways to widen the city sales tax, from renters to nonprofits to charitable gaming. It's a report Monday, not a vote.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
The Anchorage School Board pledges no more closures next year, but one member says the last three were never explained
The Anchorage School Board pledged no closures next year as an olive branch to a grieving community, though one member says the last three went unexplained.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska Senate Majority says gasline tax break waits on Glenfarne financial numbers
Alaska's Senate majority won't lock in the gasline tax break without firm cost numbers — now on Glenfarne and Dunleavy, as estimates range from $45B to $70B.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read
A hemp-ban delay divides Alaska's senators in the funding bill
A stopgap funding bill delays a federal ban on delta-8 and other intoxicating hemp — which Alaska already outlawed — and its senators split on the delay.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Kodiak posts a 7% sales tax. Businesses effectively pay less than 3%
Kodiak advertises a 7% sales tax, but so much is exempt that businesses effectively pay under 3%, and the shrinking taxable base can't keep up with city costs.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A proposed cap would limit how high Mat-Su can set its property tax rate
A proposed ordinance would cap Mat-Su's areawide property tax rate at 7 mills, or $700 a year per $100,000 of value, capping what future assemblies could set.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaskans already on heating aid don't have to reapply for a new $10 million round
Alaskans already enrolled in federal heating assistance will automatically get a share of a new $10 million round in September, no reapplication needed.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Cordova advances a tax increase on rentals and visitors to 14%
Cordova advanced a tax hike on rentals, tobacco, alcohol and marijuana, from 13% to 14%, aimed mostly at visitors, as sales tax collections run $250,000 behind last year.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage picks up the tab for building repairs the state used to help fund
Anchorage would spend $476,000 of its own money on repairs to aging city buildings after state grants were cut, and it's on the hook for that much a year through 2031.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage school board bets its emergency reserve on money that may not come
The Anchorage School Board will vote Tuesday on spending nearly all its emergency reserve to reopen 45 positions, betting on state money that isn't guaranteed until Aug. 31.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska is losing federal jobs faster than almost any state
Alaska lost federal jobs faster than nearly every state in 2025, and one economist says the two-year drop, 15.8%, is steeper still. The ripple hits housing, grants and whole towns.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly weighs new police SUVs and an off-market firehouse sale
The Anchorage Assembly weighs two property calls Aug. 4: $1.88M for 27 new police SUVs, and a no-bid sale of an old Government Hill firehouse to its current tenant.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Juneau Assembly pulls a $16M school bond from the fall ballot
Juneau yanked a $16M school bond off the fall ballot — part timing blunder, part cold feet over shaky revenue. Dissenters say it will only cost more later.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Oil is beating the forecast, and it still won't cover a dividend
Oil is running $11 a barrel above what the state budgeted. Sounds like a windfall — it wouldn't cover a single $1,000 dividend.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Anchorage day cares say a grant cut could force them to close
Anchorage voters dedicated marijuana taxes to child care. Now providers say a nearly 70 percent cut to operating grants could force them to close their doors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly resolution seeks school-funding scenarios and deferred maintenance analysis
Anchorage Assembly ordered the administration to show by Aug. 31 how much it would cost to fully fund schools and which city services would be cut to pay for it, ahead of the October budget deadline.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
A $700 property tax break, paid for by a 1% sales tax
Mat-Su voters will decide in November whether to shave about $700 off homeowners' property taxes and pay for it with a 1% sales tax on everyone.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Alaska Senate passes HB 381 oil and gas tax bill 11-8, with dissenters signaling more work ahead
Alaska Senate passed HB 381, the main bill enabling AK LNG, 11-8 Thursday, but dissenters flagged unresolved questions about a new income tax on oil and gas pass-through entities.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska lawmakers order audit of Board of Fisheries process
Alaska lawmakers voted unanimously to audit the Board of Fisheries' process after the Attorney General overturned five regulations citing ethics violations.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska legislative auditor resigns after 34 years, replacement process underway
Alaska's legislative auditor Chris Curtis is resigning after 34 years, effective Aug. 30. The Legislature is hiring her replacement through a process that aims to seat a new auditor by August.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage police and fire overtime budgets built on 2010 math, OMB says
Anchorage police and fire overtime budgets are running millions over approved limits because the city has not updated the math since roughly 2010, OMB told the Assembly on Thursday.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Conference draft keeps oil-and-gas pass-through tax, delays it to 2029
A House-Senate conference committee draft of HB 381 keeps a proposed income tax on oil-and-gas pass-through entities but delays collections to 2029.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min read
U.S. Senate stalls defense bill, freezing $2.6B for Alaska
The Senate blocked its defense bill — and $2.6B in Alaska military work with it — over the Iran war and Pentagon spending. Both AK senators voted yes.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
The $100 million question inside Alaska's gas-line bill
Should Hilcorp pay the oil tax ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips already do? It's worth $100M-plus a year — but critics warn taxing Cook Inlet's gas supplier could backfire.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Bethel moves to repay firefighters shorted on their pay
Bethel's firefighters were shorted on paid days off while stuck at the lower rate meant to offset them — and the city's now moving to pay back what they're owed
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A reserve cap just cost Fairbanks schools $11.4M. Now officials are fighting it.
Fairbanks officials are taking on the reserve cap that clawed back $11.4M from schools this year — a fight between planning flexibility and keeping money in taxpayers' pockets.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Who pays when the state underfunds school construction debt?
Alaska's cities want the state to stop shortchanging school-construction debt payments and stick locals with the bill. But it's a request, and the money's far from guaranteed.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kodiak's nonprofits need more than the borough can give
Kodiak nonprofits asked for far more than the $270K the borough has to give — with the biggest shortfall in the fund that helps keep a homeless shelter open year-round.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read
What Fairbanks wants from Juneau — and why it costs more up north
Fairbanks is finalizing its legislative wish list: cheaper piped gas, more school funding, and pensions back — a bill of grievances for a region that pays more for everything.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read