Budget and birth control before Anchorage Assembly

The Anchorage Assembly is set to vote on the city’s 2016 budget.

The operating budget the Berkowitz administration has crafted, with input from the Assembly and public, totals $480,866,548. That’s down about $3.5 million from last year’s final budget of $484.3 million. However, the city is dealing with significantly less in revenues, and closed the gap by bumping property taxes and shifting some funds over to the capital budget, which totals $336,745,000.

Up for introduction are two measures authorizing the city’s Department of Health and Human Services to enter sole-source contracts for products related to reproductive health and family planning.

One measure seeks approval to authorize up to $150,000 a year for vaccines, test kits, contraceptives and other supplies from a Minnesota-based group, with two potential years for subsequent renewal.

The other could approve up to $25,000 for a year of covering intrauterine devices (IUDs) through a contract with the company Teva Women’s Health. Though both measures are locally administered, the funds come from the state of Alaska.

Assembly members will discuss the budget and potential amendments after 6 p.m. at the Loussac Library.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the Capital budget as $57,060,000. That is the value of the bonds within the capital budget.