Mat-Su Borough voters pass four propositions in special election, putting limits on terms, and adding property tax exemptions for vets

By
Suzanne Downing
-
19

Mat-Su voters approved four propositions in a special election on Tuesday. The turnout was 7,226 voters, or 7.95%.

Voters approved the reappointment plan, which created new political boundaries for the borough assembly after the 2020 U.S. Census was completed. The vote was 5,797-1,313 in favor of approving the new assembly districts.

Voters also approved creating lifetime time limits for the mayor and the assembly members for the borough. The vote was 4961-2222 for the limits on the mayor’s terms, and 4,948-2,215 for the limits on the assembly.

Currently, mayors and assembly members can serve two consecutive terms. The new ordinance limits them to two terms for life.

Proposition 4 increases the Mat-Su Borough’s senior/disabled veteran residential property tax exemption from $68,000 to $114,000 of assessed value, for an exemption of $264,000.

The exemption will be adjusted annually based upon the percentage change in the federal Housing Price Index. The vote was 6,406-792.

The estimated cost to the borough of this change in property tax for veterans in the first year exceeds $2.9 million.

The results are unofficial until certified by the Mat-Su Borough Assembly.

19 COMMENTS

  1. I believe the mayor is on her 3rd term – but she was duly elected before this change. Does she finish the term? The will of the voters was to install her as mayor. The will of the voters is to limit life long politicians moving forward. Curious to see how it plays out.

    • The mayor is on her first term for MatSu Borough…she was previously mayor of Palmer only!

      • Actually Edna was the Borough Mayor in the 80’s before serving as a State Senator.
        How fortunate for the citizens of the Borough and the community of Palmer that she has been willing to serve and lend her considerable history and insight to benefit all of us.

      • Negative. Edna DeVries was first elected Mad Zoo Burro mayor in 1982 and served two years before being elected to the state Senate, where she served another two years. She was known as Edna Armstrong during that first term, so it might not be obvious to someone unearthing those sources. The thing they call work and I call mindlessly turning over a dollar stood in the way of finishing my research, so I don’t have any other terms recorded.

    • Why? No one would bother to vote. Only 32% of the registered voters could trouble themselves to participate in the 2021 general election, and that was considered “high” voter participation.

  6. Maybe if the Mat-Su Borough cut spending across the board every property owner would save if they would roll back the mill rate

  7. As I voted yesterday I noticed that the governor still believes in the dominion voting machines. He has failed.

    • Many lawyers would be interested in any evidence that Dominion voting machines are fraudulent. Got any Andrew?

  8. “The estimated cost to the borough of this change in property tax for veterans in the first year exceeds $2.9 million.”

    OR …. the veterans get to keep $2.9 million of their own money!”

    Depends on your perspective, doesn’t it?

  9. Unfortunately we will be losing experienced, knowledgeable potential candidates after 2 three year terms on the Assembly. The people have lost the right to select potentially good incumbents because they will NEVER BE ABLE TO RUN FOR ASSEMBLY (or Mayor) again. I truly believe that the voters did not understand what the current Assembly has robbed them of achieving in their selection of candidates.

    I’ve been hearing about term limits since Ronald Reagan was Governor of California. TRUE term limits are set at the ballot box. Thievery of the opportunity to vote for GREAT leadership has been enshrined until we can remove this travesty from our statutes.

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