CALL TO ORDER Presiding Officer Jerry Mueller called the work session to order at 3:00 pm.

ROLL CALL Assembly members present were: Sid Michaels, Jim Caswell, Teresa Hall, Carol Shields, Jerry Mueller, Teresa Usibelli, Jim Payne, Scott Stowell, Gerald Pollock, and Mayor Gonzales

1.) Ordinance 01-10, version B, an ordinance amending Denali Borough Charter, Article XI, Section 11.01, regarding a sales tax.

MICHAELS asked if the Assembly plans to postpone this ordinance today.

MUELLER said this ordinance has been on the agenda for four months.

STOWELL spoke against the need for any new taxes.

MUELLER asked if the Assembly wanted the tax issue to go on the special election ballot.

HALL said the Mayor’s Revenue Development Task Force proved that there is a need for additional revenue.

MICHAELS stated that if the tax issue is going on the ballot, one or more of these ordinances should be adopted today.

HALL stated that there are three tax ordinances before the Assembly. She said that she does not necessarily agree with the ordinances as presented. HALL said a utility tax has gone on the ballot before and it failed. She stated that there is a need for more revenue, but maybe not as drastic as we had thought six months ago. She said that the Assembly should work on this before it becomes worse. HALL said the state assessor has increased the Borough’s full value determination again, which means less money from the state. She is in support of the people of this borough having to pay something for the services they receive.

PAYNE said that the City of Anderson already has a utility tax. He stated that a utility tax might not be favorable in Anderson. He stated that the other thing the concerns him is that tourism is down 40% from last year. He stated that this time next year we could be in a financial bind.

HALL stated that she thinks the argument could be made and won in Anderson for a utility tax.

Mayor Gonzales stated that when we say that the people that live in this area do not pay anything, that is erroneous. They pay in different ways. They pay through a form of living within an area.

STOWELL stated that the reason that we are a Borough is because of the tourism based businesses, and concurred with the Mayor’s statements.

MICHAELS stated that excluding the utilities part of the ordinance, he would have paid this tax this summer.

2.) Ordinance 01-13, Version A, an ordinance establishing a 2% general sales tax within the Denali Borough. (Introduced by Assembly member Teresa Hall)

MICHAELS stated that the main problem he has with this ordinance is the exemptions. He stated that there is a lot of wiggle room in it. He stated that it could come down to the Mayor or the administration deciding who is going to be taxed and who isn’t.

3.) Ordinance 01-14, Version A, an ordinance adding Title III, Chapter 22A, Titled Excursion Tax to the Denali Borough Code of Ordinances. (Introduced by Assembly member Scott Stowell)

STOWELL stated that he is going move during the regular meeting to amend by substitution Version A with Version B.

David Braun, Healy resident, stated that he opposes this excursion tax. He stated that it targets only those who make a living selling a product, a service or their own labor to tourists. He stated in a market economy you are only suppose to be able to charge what ever the market will bear. He stated that the people of Cantwell understood this pretty well when we tried to do this, calling it a luxury tax. They realized that some people would pay them $200 to sit on the back of a horse for a half hour, if they were to turn around and pay 2% of that to the Denali Borough they were paying a tax and not the tourist. He suggested that if the Assembly still believes that the tourist are paying a tax you take your own pay check and give 2% of it to the Denali Borough and if you would still go to work even if you had to pay 2% of your wages you could still say that your employer is paying the tax.

MICHAELS asked what was going on with the work session between the School Board and the Assembly. He stated that since we are looking at issues of redistricting with the School Board the date should be set soon.

MUELLER stated that it was decided between the School Board president and himself that the work session would be held after the holidays.

HALL asked if any one had talked to the school board about the ordinance that is on the agenda today. MUELLER stated that he has and most of the School Board agrees with it.

MICHAELS suggested that looking at the turn out of our last election, we should consider doing a mail out to get the word out about the special election.

PAYNE asked the Mayor for an update on the Northern Access Project.

Mayor Gonzales stated that he and the State are looking at a Transfer of Responsibility Agreement (TORA). He stated that they are at a stand still right now. He stated the State is putting more restrictions on our Borough regarding this project without a valid reason that is definable. Mayor Gonzales stated that he had a meeting with Senator Therriault, Representative Jeanette James DNR, and DOT to talk these things over and they said that they would have an answer for us by last Friday.

ADJOURNMENT MUELLER declared the work session adjourned at 2:40 p.m.

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