Knowing the governor does not have the funds to reimburse school bonds anymore, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and the Assembly let them go to the ballot in April with barely a warning to voters.
Now, home ownership taxes have gone up again, about $80 a year for the average home in the $380,000 range. The average yearly property tax paid by Anchorage residents already amounted to about 3.84 percent of their yearly income. But wait….
The assessments and invoices arrived in mailboxes in Anchorage on Saturday and homeowners were surprised to see the note from Mayor Berkowitz blaming higher taxes yet to come on Gov. Michael Dunleavy and the Legislature. Perhaps in a special mid-year assessment? He also says that the cost of municipal government is down, except for public safety, when actually, the budget is the highest in municipal history, at $515 million plus.
