The shocking part of the Anchorage budget submitted by the new mayor is just how much was spent during the Berkowitz Administration. In short, spending exploded.
The Dan Sullivan Administration, which lasted from 2009 to 2015, left the Ethan Berkowitz Administration with an $18.1 million surplus over the 12 percent of savings known as the “fund balance.” That is the amount the city is required to have to cover bonds.
But the Ethan Berkowitz Administration in its six years spent it all down and then some. It left the Dave Bronson Administration an $18.9 million deficit in that fund balance this July, when Bronson took over. That’s a $37 million swing from a surplus to a deficit position in savings required by bondholders.
While spending went up by 20 percent during the Berkowitz Administration (including the eight months when Austin Quinn-Davidson was acting mayor), Mayor Bronson proposes to cut $7.5 million out of the next budget cycle. And there will be another $1.2 million in reductions in enterprise services; those are rates people pay that are governed by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
During the Berkowitz spending growth years, the Municipality of Anchorage’s population decreased from 299,330 to 285,400 residents. The Bronson Administration said it believes government should begin right-sizing unsustainable spending to reflect the decreases in population that have occurred.
“Upon taking office, my administration has been working to stabilize Anchorage’s fiscal future to ensure we steady the growth in government spending, right size our services through efficiencies, and better delivery of government services to the taxpayers and the residents of Anchorage,” said Mayor Bronson. “This budget reflects months of work across all departments to evaluate our programs and explore all possibilities to maximize savings. As a result, I sincerely believe we are on a strong glide path to a more effective and efficient MOA while maintaining the services Anchorage has grown to expect.”
“Now is the time to act, to eliminate the level of uncertainty Anchorage residents and taxpayers have felt for years. This budget is a call to action for us. I will continue to seek a decrease in government spending and seek to take the burden off the tax cap for all people of Anchorage,” Bronson said. “We don’t want our children and grandchildren to have to pay the debts incurred today.”
The 2022 proposed budget is $550 million, a reduction in spending from the 2021 actual spending.
These reductions were achieved by implementing efficiencies in operations and eliminating a number (53 total) of non-essential positions, including 34 vacant positions and 19 currently occupied positions, the Mayor’s Office said. People in positions subject to elimination will have the opportunity to obtain employment with the Municipality of Anchorage.
Key items of interest in Mayor Bronson’s 2022 budget:
- Core services remain intact (police, fire, health, streets plowed)
- A focused effort to reduce the debt that has incurred over the past five years
- Reducing the property tax cap burden
- Not issuing more debt than is being paid off
- Reduction of government administration
- Seeking federal reimbursements for previous disaster spending
Municipality of Anchorage Plan Moving Forward:
- Maintaining the AAA bond rating
- Eliminating unnecessary and burdensome government policies, regulations, and practices
- Reducing the cost of government services to the taxpayers through the consolidation and streamlining of services.
Click here for the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget
