Letter: The Assembly should not put the Anchorage sales tax proposal on the ballot

Originally published March 15th, 2025 in the Anchorage Daily News. Please click here to see the original publication.

Assembly member Randy Sulte and the sales tax proponents estimate $60 million annually for municipal area projects (”Now is the time for action to make a stronger, more sustainable Anchorage”). But all of the projects listed — sports centers, recreation complexes, trailside facilities — would cost far more than $60 million. This year, the total cost of all 12 Anchorage bonds on the ballot is over $130 million — and mostly just for essential maintenance. What’s more, the process of choosing which of the listed projects would actually move forward is not clear. What would these projects cost? If these projects are good ideas, they should go before voters as bonds.

Further, the sales tax would sunset in seven years. But that’s not enough time to plan for the future — especially for many of the proposals listed.

The sales tax proposal will result in a tax increase to hire tax collectors and increase municipal bureaucracy. We need to hire more police officers and firefighters, not more tax collectors.

— Matt Claman, Anchorage