Budget

The White House wanted the Denali Commission closed, and it grew instead

The White House proposed closing the Denali Commission. Congress funded it, and the agency ended up administering money many times its own budget.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readFrom Jan 22

The Permanent Fund wants $215 million to run itself

The Permanent Fund wants $215.4 million to run itself next year, three-quarters of it going to the outside firms that manage the money.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau weighs taxing nonprofit sales to help close its budget gap

Juneau is weighing whether nonprofits should pay sales tax like small businesses — a move that could raise $3.3 million but squeeze groups like the symphony.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Districts learned about $115 million after school had already started

Alaska school districts learned they were getting $115 million the day after school started, because the money depended on oil revenue counted Aug. 31.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage school district proposes splitting $32 million in one-time state money

Anchorage schools will split $32 million in one-time state money, spending more than half this year and saving the rest to shrink a $40 million deficit expected next summer.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Anchorage schools will open a new listening effort with a $42 million shortfall

Anchorage's surplus school buildings could bring in money, the district says

Anchorage school officials say surplus buildings could generate revenue, among them Campbell STEM, closed in February and the subject of a dismissed lawsuit.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su Assembly rejects lowering its property tax cap to 7 mills

Mat-Su's Assembly rejected lowering its tax cap to 7 mills after the borough warned it would force $22 million in cuts — schools and ambulances included.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Follows: A proposed cap would limit how high Mat-Su can set its property tax rate

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.News2mo 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 2mo 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 2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Juneau moves to repair Mendenhall riverbank and protect flood-hit homes

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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: An Anchorage board member proposes a one-year pause on school closures

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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago4 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago2 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago2 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago3 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews4mo 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 AlaskaNews4mo ago4 min read