The Affordable Juneau Coalition has successfully gathered the required number of signatures to advance three citizen-led initiatives intended to curb Assembly spending and improve affordability in Alaska’s capital city. The initiatives are:
- Property Tax Cap: This measure would amend the city charter to set a cap of nine mills on the property tax rate. The current charter allows for a cap of 12 mills. The goal is to prevent future tax hikes and maintain the current property tax level.
- Sales Tax Exemption: This initiative seeks to exempt essential food and residential utilities from the city’s 5% sales tax. Prepared foods, such as restaurant meals, would continue to be taxed at the usual rate.
- Voting Reform Charter Amendment: This amendment would reverse the city’s current ordinance that prioritizes mail-in voting. If passed, it would require all local elections to be conducted primarily at polling places, with mail-in ballots still available upon request as absentee ballots. The change would mark a return to the pre-2020 in-person voting model, which was altered during the Covid-19 pandemic. Supporters argue the switch to mail-in voting has led to delays in election results and increased costs of elections.
The coalition plans to submit the petition booklets for notarization this week, ahead of the June 20 deadline. The group needed approximately 2,700 valid signatures, representing 25% of the votes cast in the most recent local election, to move the measures forward.
According to organizers, the most popular initiative among residents was the exemption for food and utilities, followed closely by the property tax cap. They reported strong public frustration with the city’s direction, which became apparent as petition-gatherers canvassed neighborhoods. Some residents reportedly expressed interest in a potential recall effort targeting the current mayor.
In anticipation of the measures potentially making the ballot, the Juneau Assembly has introduced an ordinance that would allocate $50,000 for advertising to oppose the initiatives, if they are certified by the city clerk. This mirrors a past effort by the Assembly, which used public funds to campaign against a citizen initiative aimed at blocking spending on a new, high-end city hall. In that case, voters ultimately sided with the initiative, despite the city-funded campaign opposing it.
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