Anchorage Assembly Postpones 3% Sales Tax; Passes ASD Funding Proposal onto Voters 

Tuesday, Jan 13, the Anchorage Assembly postponed Mayor LaFrance’s 3% sales tax proposal after LaFrance motioned for the postponement, claiming the Assembly needed to focus on a funding proposal for the Anchorage School District instead. 

The Assembly postponed the sales tax proposal, AO-2025-133, indefinitely with a vote of 12-0. 

Then, the Assembly heard public testimony and voted on AO-2025-136, a proposal intending to provide the Anchorage School District with $79,460,000 for capital improvements. The ordinance asks voters to consider an issuance of general obligation bonds to fund ASD’s capital improvements. If passed, Anchorage property owners will see a property tax increase to help ASD pay back the bonds.  

The Assembly passed the ordinance with a vote of 9-3. Anchorage voters will have the final say on April 7, 2026, during the municipal elections. 

Public Speaks Against Giving ASD More Money 

Five Anchorage residents gave public testimony regarding AO-2025-136. Each person was given 3 minutes each. 

The first resident used his 3 minutes to share his testimony as a Christian: “…My citizenship isn’t alone here in Anchorage, but as I stated on the onset of my testimony, I am a citizen of heaven. That being said, I would be remiss without lifting up the name of Jesus Christ. The name Jesus Christ originated as Yeshua. You may know Him as Yeshua. He is the King of kings. He’s the King of glory. And He is the only reason I stand here today with assurance I will not burn in eternity in a pit of fire, away from Him. If you don’t know Christ, if you’re confused, if you’re scared, if you’re fearful, turn to Jesus Christ right now. He knows everything you did. He will make you brand new. Everything else is a lie. We’ve got to lift up the name of Jesus Christ.” 

The second resident, from Anchorage District 5, stated: “The Anchorage School District is a mismanaged government organization, and I can tell you the 79 million that we are going to have to vote on, I can tell you now they have received more money from the state which they have been mismanaging for years. Why are we contributing to more mismanagement? What we need to do is we need to demand the ASD go down to 75% of the municipal budget. There’s a lot of fat. There’s a lot of pork there… This 2x the Anchorage budget needs to stop. Investigate ASD! That’s what needs to happen.” The resident then proposed that only the property taxes of property owners with kids in the ASD should go to ASD, and the property taxes of owners with kids in private school should go to those private schools. 

The next Anchorage resident: “I am a little surprised by the vagueness of this ordinance. Where did it come from? Back in November, it was not under discussion. I’ve been to a couple of ASD meetings, and their budget is fat. Why do they need more money? I mean, they were talking about closing schools; now, they want another $80 million? For capital improvements. On buildings they are talking about closing. I mean, something is not making any sense here.” 

Anchorage Highschooler: “As a student myself, as a citizen here, born and raised, I am telling you ASD they make bank, more than their own teachers and aids… what is this going for? Who is it paying?” 

South Anchorage resident: “Anchorage, where I was born and raised, pre-statehood, has survived successfully without a sales tax. I’ve raised my children here. Paid way too much in property taxes… Most of my tax dollars go to ASD and now they want $80 million more. And I would say, Anchorage does not have a revenue problem. I have a degree in economics. I understand money flow. We have a spending problem. And they want to cut all kinds of stuff out of Anchorage, but they never say, ‘You know, me personally, we need to cut back. We need to be responsible.’ There’s no one here that runs their family finances by just saying ‘I need to make more money.’ No, we start cutting back. Maybe we don’t go out to dinner as often. We cut back… To give the school district 80 million more dollars when we already have a short come, that’s kind of goofy to me. They already have plenty of money. They didn’t need the money when I was kid here. We’re paying more and more property taxes, and we’re having less and less to show for it.” 

Assembly Discussion 

Listen to the full public testimonies and the Assembly’s discussion regarding AO-2025-136 below (2:20:20-2:46:27). 

AO-2025-136 Details 

Here are the full details of the proposed funding for the Anchorage School District, including the district’s breakdown of how they wish to spend the money. 

Projects include: 

• Construction of Phase 1 building upgrades at Romig Middle School 
• Building improvements at Lake Otis Elementary School 
• Structural upgrades at Klatt Elementary School 
• Renovation and construction of a new secure vestibule, roof and remediate truss structural issues at Tudor Elementary School 
• Upgrade the Student Nutrition building and systems 
• Demolish and dispose of hazardous materials at Ursa Major Elementary School 
• Upgrade and replace electrical service and standby generator system at Bettye Davis Anchorage High School 
• Installation of access control for 15 schools 
• Planning and design for 2027-2028 projects