Haines Borough Finance Committee seeks voter input on proposed sales taxes

The Haines Borough has less than two weeks to pass an operating budget for fiscal year 2020. As the legislature and governor continue to debate Alaska’s budget, the borough may face a shortfall in funding from the state. Now the assembly is considering a variety of options to make up for the gap, including budget cuts and new taxes.

The borough manager’s budget released in April provided flat funding for most municipal departments. Since then, there have been no significant changes made to the document. However, assembly member Brenda Josephson recently proposed cuts to the library, museum and stipends for the borough assembly.

The proposal was met with resistance from library and museum staff.  

At a finance committee meeting Monday, several assembly members discussed a different approach to balancing the budget: new taxes. Assemblyman Tom Morphet proposed putting the question of new taxes to voters.

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