The leaders pushing Project Anchorage, an initiative to create a local sales tax to invest in the city’s quality of life, took two dozen questions from a business-minded audience on Monday.
The subjects of the questions included sales tax exemptions, Oklahoma City’s experience with its version, concerns about raising local taxes and Anchorage Assembly politics.
Jenna Wright is the CEO of the Anchorage Economic Development Corp. She presented Project Anchorage and fielded questions Monday with the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.
“The overall vibe that I’ve been getting is a lot of excitement,” she said. “People recognize that we’ve got to do something different if we want to retain and attract talent, and this is a particularly appealing structure that we have in place. That said, it is a sales tax and Anchorage has not had a sales tax for a very long time and we’re used to that. So I think there have been some folks that have brought up some concerns or questions.”
Last year, her organization convened a coalition of local businesses supporting the creation of a 3% sales tax in Anchorage. About two-thirds of it would offset property taxes, saving the owner of the average Anchorage home roughly $100 a month. And the rest, estimated to be $60 million a year, would go toward a list of civic projects the nonprofit is soliciting ideas for through Sept. 15.
Some of the initial ideas she shared include an Alaska children’s museum, a downtown public library, a Girdwood industrial park, a Campbell Creek riverwalk, child care facilities and a public sauna.
To evaluate the ideas, Wright said they’re working on setting up an inclusive process with an emphasis on two goals.
“One is subject diversity,” she said. “We want there to be something for everyone. We want there to be something that everyone in Anchorage enjoys. And then the other one is geographic diversity. We want these projects to be accessible to neighborhoods across Anchorage, as well as Girdwood and Chugiak-Eagle River area.”
Later in the fall, that list of recommendations will go to the Anchorage Assembly and through its process for preparing a ballot question for the city’s regular local election next April, Wright said.
So far, she has found that after having a conversation and going over the details, people generally get on board. She said Assembly supporters include members Randy Sulte, Scott Myers and Felix Rivera. They cover both ends of the body’s political spectrum.
Wright said Oklahoma City’s 1% sales tax and reinvestment led its economy to boom and its population to grow.
“They’ve become a place where talent really wants to be,” Wright said. “The collective public investment has brought in billions and billions of additional private investment in the city, what is truly a virtuous economic cycle.”
And, it’s popular. She said voters there have overwhelmingly authorized the sales tax and associated projects by wide margins four times.
Jeremy Hsieh covers Anchorage with an emphasis on housing, homelessness, infrastructure and development. Reach him atjhsieh@alaskapublic.orgor 907-550-8428. Read more about Jeremyhere.
