By ANGELA RODELL
This is the season of wish lists and holiday dreams, as we eagerly anticipate what Santa—or Amazon—might bring. But soon enough, reality sets in, with Scrooge in the form of credit card bills and bank statements snapping us back to earth.
Unfortunately, for Juneau residents, Scrooge may be arriving sooner than expected. Two significant events this past Monday, Dec. 3, should prompt all of us to sit up and take notice.
The first event was the release of the December Economic Trends report from the Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development. The report projects that Southeast Alaska’s population, including Juneau’s, is expected to decline by more than 8% by 2050. That might not sound alarming at first, but the underlying data tells a more troubling story.
Our community is aging rapidly. Birth rates are at historic lows, far below what’s needed to sustain the population. Meanwhile, we lack the migration needed to fill the gaps left by retirees. These demographic shifts are already hitting us hard: job vacancies remain unfilled, wait times for services are longer, and businesses struggle to find workers.
This shrinking workforce is more than an economic issue—it’s a community crisis. Our wage earners support local schools, shop at our stores, dine at our restaurants, and fund the arts. As their numbers dwindle, the burden on those who remain grows heavier. We’ve all felt this through rising property taxes, an increasing cost of living, and mounting pressure on city services.
The second event was Monday evening’s Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting, which covered two key topics: a proposed tidelands lease for Huna Totem’s Aak’w Landing development and an update on the city’s financial situation.
During the discussion of the Aak’w Landing project, important questions about traffic, congestion, and public space were raised. However, I was struck by what wasn’t asked. How many jobs will this project create—both during construction and for long-term operations? What kind of tax revenue will it generate for Juneau?
Aak’w Landing is a for-profit development that will contribute to our tax base and provide diversified employment opportunities. These benefits are crucial for our community’s long-term stability, yet they didn’t seem to get the attention they deserved.
The financial update was even more sobering. Since the fiscal year began on July 1, the city has approved over $6.5 million in unbudgeted, one-time expenditures. Future requests could exceed $30 million. Meanwhile, both sales and property tax revenues are falling short of projections, creating a significant budget gap.
To maintain current services, the city is considering increasing the mil rate, which would further raise property taxes. Assembly members were tasked with answering four key questions:
1. How comfortable are they with revenue and expense assumptions?
2. Should revenue changes be explored?
3. Should service levels be adjusted?
4. Should they seek voter approval for bonds in October 2025?
But here’s what they should also be asking:
• What are our real spending priorities?
• Which programs or projects can be trimmed to keep Juneau affordable?
Now is the time for us, the residents of Juneau, to make our voices heard. Can we afford yet another property tax increase? What services or projects matter most to us? Without our input, the Assembly will act on our behalf—whether we agree or not.
Let them know what you think by emailing them at boroughassembly@juneau.gov. Our city’s future depends on your voice.
Angela Rodell is a Juneau resident and the former chief executive officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
I was a conservative living in Seattle who couldn’t stand the way the state continued to go. I was about to start raising a family and moved to Alaska for a brighter future. Truth be told, I would have considered moving to Juneau. It’s beautiful.
However the fact that it is very Liberal kept me far away. I only wanted to share that politics does impact migration. It’s the reason Juneau/Anchorage are having issues while Matsu is booming.
Jonathan, I think you mean to say “leftist” rather than “liberal.” Like so much of our language being perversely mutated in recent years, the term “liberal” has been appropriated by the Left to falsely describe themselves with its classic meaning. Like so many other lies, they do not fit that description.
Ms. Rodell asks pointed and legitimate questions here that very much need to be considered and addressed.
Unfortunately, the current CBJ Assembly is largely populated by members unwilling to address the impending demographic and fiscal realities facing Juneau.
This is a story likely to end badly and one that somewhat mirrors the fate of contemporary Alaska.
We indulged in the fantasy that revenues up here in The Last Frontier from nonrenewable petroleum dollars would gush on in perpetuity and that public spending for almost any conceivable program and desire would last forever.
We’ve collectively spent too much, including funding many “wants” that exceed actual “needs.” We saved too little of our now declining oil wealth and are now actively overspending the earnings from the interest generated by the Permanent Fund.
Turns out, we saved too little too.
Spending too much and saving not enough is always a path to financial ruin, which is the path Alaska has been on for decades.
Given this environment, it’s hardly surprising Juneau and other communities have been profligate in spending.
Communities like Juneau and Anchorage don’t have big savings accounts that will allow perpetual overspending. Borrowing to continue excess spending isn’t an option. The spending party spree is rapidly coming to an end.
Whether the current CBJ Assembly has the skill and the will to address the financial realities facing Juneau remains to be seen.
Perhaps they do, but probably not, which will just make the post-party hangover worse.
Oh well, it’s a democracy and the citizens get what they apparently desired when they elected the current assembly.
Juneau is down to two butler sevices there! O the horror! That’s why we voted three times to move the capital and they defide us every time. It’s hard to feel sorry for them. The end of Dowling Road in Anchorage would be a nice place to put the capital.
“……..The end of Dowling Road in Anchorage would be a nice place to put the capital………”
I would suggest that an even better location would be @ a mile west of Fire Island.
I like Kotzebue or Bethel. Change the session to when school is out. Rent the high school.
Do the session by zoom. Make the lobbyists scramble.
In a normal city, these would be good questions. Juneau, OTOH, isn’t normal. Just double taxes and fees on the cruise ships and their passengers. The tourists will just keep on coming and the taxes and fees will be paid. Take a look at tourist taxes and fees in Hawaii; they are very substantial.
As for the workforce and affordability issues, just jack up salaries. When it comes to state government salaries, the new majority of Democrats and “Independents” in the Legislature, tapping the income of the Permanent Fund should be easy once the Left grabs the Governor’s office.
The private economy? Who cares – this is Alaska.
JMARK,
By any measure Juneau isnt a ” normal” city.
It has an embarrassment of riches which includes, the number one production Silver mine in the US, a world class Gold Mine, a fishing fleet that ranks in the top ten ports in Alaska and did I fail to mention the million plus tourist dumped downtown every year from the Industrial Cruise Ship industry?
Despite all if this economic activity it remains unable to properly govern it’s boundaries.
I submit this is due to the disease of Government and it’s terminal effect upon the citizens living therein.
I spent 40 years in that part of Alaska. Sadly many if my dearest friends, men with high intelligence and accomplishments remain trapped like mink in a # 1 Victor along the shores of Gastineau Channel.
Happily I beat that trap by chewing off my paw and escaped North!
Robert Schenker, you forgot to mention Juneau is sitting on what was once the worlds #1 gold producing mine. That mine now lays dormant due to irrational opposition from the cadre of Juneau locals who demand their cake while eating it too. That mine, the AJ, is entirely unique. It is an underground hard-rock gold resource located within 600ft of a deep saltwater port. In the 80’s and 90’s a mine developer, Echo Bay, spent $250M attempting to re-open the valuable AJ resource. However, their efforts were thwarted by local naysayers…. wanting their cake and to eat it too. They bank on their belief that they will always be in a position to harvest more benefit from government than they are required to contribute.
PS: It must be noted that the AJ Mine is co-owned by the Borough of Juneau. The royalties from its operation could reduce our property taxes to near zero. The primary challenge to its opening is the borough must rectify its reputation as an unreasonable controlling agency that forced Echo Bay to give up its efforts. The borough needs to re-brand itself as an owner/agency that fully supports AJ development. Imagine keeping all our schools open with full employment in support of a hidden underground mine that does not distract from tourism or any other local activities…. all with reduced property taxes for Juneau residents.
Wayne, The group that captured the Juneau Assembly some 30 years ago believes that Government is the answer to every problem. Accordingly government must address every individuals need, whatever that need is. From promoting drunken vagrants, building a Golden Whale Calf for Grennie Pagan Worship to providing a Ski Resort, your clueless City Leaders
will find a way to suck you dry of your $ and hand it to their friends.
Sadly despite their success listed above course they suck
at Garbage disposal. How ironic.
I tried to find a plumber to sweat a couple water lines in my house because my precious wife didn’t want me to play with fire in her house. After a few calls, she was ready for me to save some time and money. Imagine trying to find a guy for a two hour job (at a couple hundred bucks per hour) and being told that their first opening was in March?…….if they even told you that they were interested at all. Reminds me of the Ronald Reagan Soviet joke of the Russians who bought a car and being told that delivery would be in 10 years. The buyers asked, “Morning or afternoon?” What’s the difference, asked the car dealer? The responded that the plumber was coming in the morning.
This is how it works in a communist society where you pay people to sit on their back pockets and watch your propaganda on tv. They won’t work anymore. That means you don’t get stuff anymore. Only slugs.
Get in line, Juneau and Rodell. I have my plumber appointment for March. No cuts.
When Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Soviet Union, there was a popular saying that captured the cynicism engendered by the socialist economy: “They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work!”
I would recommend you look up “plumbing sharkbite”, and youtube how to use it. No sweating involved. Works great for capping the end of a pipe off too.
I just pulled out the torch and solder and sweat the pipes. It was done before Mrs. Taylor knew it. I’ve seen sharkbite, and I might do it on a fitting that remained open and accessible, but I’m closing this one up behind sheetrock. I’ll do it the good old fashioned way………
No the city needs more government workers and a couple of new buildings. The taxes need to go up to pay for government.
Come on Juneau it’s for the state and people so spend more city tax dollars for all of us.
Go to an Assembly meeting and watch ( you can only watch because the acoustics are so bad you can’t hear, probably by design) the Assembly members in action. They approve spending millions like it grows on trees with hardly any of them having any business experience. I for one am very discouraged with the direction this town is taking.
Juneau’s population is not declining. It’s packed around here and we have a construction boom going on. Condo projects all over, new buildings, houses going up further and further out the road. Parents are keeping their children out of public schools for obvious reasons. Revenues are going down as our real estate ownership becomes consolidated and convert to non revenue producing entities.
Wanted to raise my family in Juneau — trailers were $1500 a month in rent. Houses start at $400,000. Both of us working full time jobs barely covered the necessities, without room to save. I had a university job — she had a university job. Still couldn’t make it. No one cared or offered to help when we talked about moving out of state.
Just read the article in the Empire, Eagle Crest board is kind of clueless. Wonder if that might be true of BRH and maybe all of CBJ?
Why should anyone care or offer to help when you talked about moving out of state?
it wasn’t our first choice to move out of state, rather prudent. We have no family in state, and like I said, the connections we’d both built in Alaska didn’t do much to help. What am I supposed to do, live in poverty and credit?
Juno?
No I don’t.
Why are they like that?