By THE ANCHORAGE DAILY PLANET
Property taxpayers in Anchorage are getting their tax bills and Mayor Ethan Berkowitz is seizing the opportunity to send an unabashed, baldfaced political harangue along with the levy.
“Dear neighbor,” it starts, “The Governor and members of the Legislature have announced intentions to sidestep their prior commitments to voter approved bond-debt reimbursement, shifting those costs to Anchorage taxpayers. If the State chooses to make this change, Anchorage property tax payers will be forced to assume an additional $328 million in debt over 20 years, resulting in an additional payment next year of $120 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.
“This would mean an additional $420 for the average home in Anchorage ($350,000).”
Berkowitz’s message says nothing about the city knowing those promised school bond reimbursements were, at best, iffy when the bonds were peddled to the public. It fails to mention that the state is going broke and has no money to share with cities; that everybody in the state could see that coming for years.
And it most certainly says nothing – horrors! – about down-sizing city government, if necessary, to match revenues rather than jacking up taxes.
This nonsense with only home/ property owners having to tow the line for new increased taxes ALL THE TIME- EVERY TIME has to end folks. People are losing their homes and will continue losing their homes when liberal minded mayors and assembly members are in charge.
Bait and switch is apparently alive and well with revenues collected for a intended bond & purpose clearly is being directed elsewhere by certain individuals. Everyone needs to pay attention to all those newly approved bonds and make sure improvements are actually done for each specific purpose. If not, rally the homeowners with CONSTANT radio discussions by calling Mike P. with 650AM radio @ 907-522-0650. OR Call Ch 11 @ 907-274-1111 and Ch 2 for immediate news stories and intense and constant news coverage of this serious matter facing us. Give them all the attention they deserve folks.
It may be too late now for this year, but really think hard and keep an open mind about this earlier post about the Mail-in- ballots and the timing with regards to all of our financial problems now. Desperate times required desperate action perhaps?
We all must learn from history and we incentivize corruption & deception when nothing is said, done or challenged in order to verify this kind of legitimate concern with mail-in-voting. Secondly, every thinking person who owns a home or property needs to view this serious issue for what it is – A REAL problem. Municipality officials created mail-in-voting for one reason only ! To have a means of easily controlling the propositions for more revenues while having total control of the final votes and the outcome of each prop. History is our ally folks and history is being repeated !!! *** Hence: Joseph Stalin: “It’s not the people who vote that count. It’s the people who count the votes.” How bloody convenient with the timing being extremely suspicious… All of which having NO “real” transparency at all – other than a hand full of people, muni officials and talking heads with KTUU, KTVA and other media sources going along by saying: Just TRUST us that 90% of these props past. Nothing to see here folks. *** Regardless of the fact that every single person I’ve talked with and the countless amounts of angry opinions being shared on the radio saying; NO WAY CAN I AFFORD MORE TAXES OR ANY OF THESE PROPS ! All a thinking person has to do is look at the “timing of this questionable push for mail-in-voting” along with the convenient timing when city revenues are drying up with no state reimbursements coming this time around. That adds up to desperate measures requiring desperate solutions to “forcibly past these props by deception” The Muni has to get more revenues at any cost. After all, no one has any guts to really question anything like this so this type of deception can easily go unchecked, unquestioned and unchallenged. This is why Anchorage will soon be going the way of Illinois, San Francisco and Detroit. People now are just too busy, too distracted or simply too ignorant or detached from any semblance of reality to question anything. The people perpetrating this realize this fact and that’s why this bold, brazen option is now in effect. We have allowed a cancer to gradually infiltrate our politics in Anchorage and throughout Alaska . We have become gutless and hesitant to question anything that needs to be questioned and it’s only a matter of time now. I’ve lived here for over 40 years and I am numb with disappointment over this complacent-liberal mindset that has consumed Anchorage.
One more time: “It’s not the people who vote that count. It’s the people who count the votes.” – Joseph Stalin
Please rally your friends, neighbors, coworkers who are homeowners with CONSTANT radio discussions by calling Mike P. with 650AM radio @ 907-522-0650. OR Call Ch 11 @ 907-274-1111 and Ch 2 for immediate news stories and intense and CONSTANT news coverage of this serious matter facing us. Give them all the attention they deserve folks. OR NOTHING WILL CHANGE GOING FORWARD EXCEPTING IT GETTING WORST AND TOO DANG EXPENSIVE TO LIVE HERE ANY LONGER.
** Next years prop ballots will be heavily scrutinized and a group of unbiased citizens will be following up to evaluate and looking at each physical ballot to verify the reported outcomes accuracy. Let’s make this a priority.
I seem to remember the argument to vote for school bonds was that the state will pick up a huge chunk of the bill so it would be crazy and irresponsible to not take all that free nobody’s money.
There will be a tipping point at which Anchorage voters will say “enough” with ever increasing municipal taxes and expenditures, which produce little benefit for residents. I am already there. How about you?
Ann,
AMEN!
No one likes paying taxes, especially continuously paying more and more by the same ” isolated” group AKA: [home owners] . That includes me. I hate all taxes but some taxes must fill all of the holes we now face to function. If Anchorage must keep taxing in order to function, then the only viable & equitable option for Anchorage is a “Sales Tax” so everyone who buys certain products/services fairly contributes. NOT JUST THE PROPERTY/HOME OWNERS.
We have reached a tipping point and all these leaders in Anchorage (Mayor, Assembly members and politicians better comprehend that.
Respectfully disagree…
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First Anchorage voters have to get rid of mail-in voting and replace that scam with traditional polling.
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Only then will it matter what voters say and how they vote.
“voter approved bond-debt reimbursement.” You mean voter approved bond-debt.
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