By Brenda Josephson
Haines is a small community with a declining population, yet its local government continues to increase the tax burden on those who remain.
A local government’s currency is the goodwill of its citizens. With unmitigated spending, it eventually runs out of other people’s money—and the public’s goodwill.
Assembly Member Mark Smith brought that reality into sharp focus, and he did it in a way no one expected: by offering to personally donate $10,000 to a charity if it would withdraw its request for taxpayer funding.
As the discussion unfolded, during an April 14th Haines Borough assembly meeting, the tone in the room shifted. This was not a routine debate over a budget line. It was something else entirely.
Chilkat Valley Preschool had come before the Assembly, seeking borough assistance for startup costs to expand its childcare services. The organization stated it is working to modify its license from serving children ages 3 to 7 to serving children from birth through age 7— an effort aimed at addressing what it identifies as the community’s most significant childcare gap.
The daycare requested taxpayer funds, stating they were needed for startup costs related to state licensing, including cribs, high chairs, changing tables, sanitation stations, and other infant care necessities.
And it’s worth noting that the borough had prior involvement. The preschool already benefits from local government support, including use of a borough facility and access to a sales-tax-free purchasing structure.
Smith did not challenge the need. Instead, he challenged the assumption behind the request.
Moments earlier, the conversation had been following a familiar path: identify a community need, look to the borough to help fund it, and move forward. But Smith interrupted that pattern— not with opposition, but with an alternative.
Smith stated he would fund it himself, offering to donate $10,000 if they withdrew the request for taxpayer funds.
For a moment, the room went quiet. Then came spontaneous applause. It was not polite or staged— it was immediate and unprompted, the kind of reaction that tells you people understood they had just witnessed something different.
Because this was not just about the money. It was about the line he drew.
The need is real. Childcare matters. In a small, remote community like Haines, gaps in services occur. But Smith’s response reframed the issue.
His argument is straightforward: when government steps in to fund community or charitable services, it can crowd out the very private support those organizations need to become sustainable. When people are required to contribute through taxes, they are often less willing to contribute on their own and over time, that weakens the kind of community-driven solutions small towns depend on.
And there are signs that a community-based solution is already possible. The preschool itself noted it has secured funding through grants, local businesses, and community support to remain operational through the current school year. It is working toward a more sustainable model. The foundation is already there.
Smith’s offer challenged that model to stand on its own, stating, “Build something people will choose to support— not something they are required to fund.”
That distinction matters, especially in a town like Haines.
Smith explained that Haines does not have a growing tax base with room to expand commitments. It is a small, remote community with a shrinking population and limited economic activity. Fewer residents mean fewer dollars to spread across the same— and often, increasing— demands driven by the government itself. Every new obligation does not just exist on paper; it lands directly on the shoulders of the people who remain.
He continued, “Local government has a role: public safety, infrastructure, and essential services that cannot be provided any other way. Beyond that, every expenditure becomes a question of limits.”
Those limits, he argued, are already being tested. “The issue isn’t whether childcare is important. It is. The issue is whether every important need becomes a responsibility of government to fund.” Because if the answer is yes, then there is no limit— and that is a path a small community like Haines cannot afford to follow.
What happened in that assembly meeting was not just a generous act. It was a statement, a reminder that in a small town, community responsibility still matters and that not every problem should be handed to government to solve.
Because eventually, the math wins. You cannot keep asking fewer people to pay more and expect it to keep working.
And when you get close to that breaking point, people do not just accept it. They respond.
In Haines, voters have already responded once by approving a citizens’ petition to increase the
senior property tax exemption to $300,000 in the October 2024 election.
The pushback is not just theoretical. At that same meeting, a petition with 527 signatures was presented, seeking relief from a new seasonal sales tax. Collected in just one week, it represents a substantial share of borough voters. In a community where local seats can be won with fewer votes, the message was unmistakable: taxpayers feel the burden has gone too far.
That will not be the last response. If the pressure continues, more citizens’ petitions can be expected, because when taxpayers feel pushed too far, they do not stay quiet. They organize.
The question is not whether there are limits. It is whether local government recognizes them before the public forces the issue themselves.
Brenda Josephson is a Haines resident.
