Skagway voters on Tuesday voted down a proposition to raise the sales and service tax from 5% to 6.5% to pay for “increased operational and infrastructural demands” that come during the summer months. The vote was 158 for, and 192 against the Proposition 1 sales tax hike, which would impact tourists, seasonal workers, and locals alike.
Proposition 2 passed. It opposes the sale or lease of the Dahl Memorial Clinic and the E.A. & Jenny Rasmuson building its housed it without a vote of the public.
Proposition 3 failed: The question was whether to sell the health clinic to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium for a sum of $1 and to lease the land to SEARHC for another dollar. Skagway voted 93 for the SEARHC takeover and 254 against it.
The election was a special election and the results are unofficial. The health clinic in Skagway has had a difficult time hiring and retaining staff to the small, isolated community and some people felt that SEARHC could draw upon its economy of scale, since it operates a network of health care facilities around Southeast Alaska. Too much of the time, the clinic doesn’t have an advanced medical professional on staff, and weather is often a factor in not being able to fly patients to Juneau for care.
SEARHC provides comprehensive medical services at two hospitals in Southeast Alaska: Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center in Sitka and Wrangell Medical Center in Wrangell. It provides services in Angoon, Craig, Gustavus, Haines, Hoonah, Hydaburg, Juneau, Kake, Kasaan, Ketchikan, Klawock, Klukwan, Metlakatla, Pelican, Petersburg, Sitka, Skagway, Thorne Bay, Wrangell, Seasonal Clinics.
SEARHC is a tribal health consortium for mainly Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian people, other Alaska Native people, and other residents of Southeast Alaska. Skagway is largely a white community that doesn’t represent the main demographic mission that many understand is inherent with SEARHC. SEARHC already has had a contractual relationship with the Dahl Clinic to serve Native citizens of Skagway, who number about 58 of the 800 year-round residents of the town at the head of Lynn Canal.
The Canvass Board will meet in the Assembly Chambers at 4 p.m. on April 20 to canvass the absentee and questioned ballots. The Borough Assembly will certify the election results at its meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 20.
Good. SERHC is getting quite greedy these days.
They are close to a healthcare monopoly in SE.
How can searhc be “mainly for natives” when it’s funded by taxpayers?
In case nobody else noticed it, SEARHC and the other tribal “Non-Profits” like Tlingit Haida are expanding drastically and are using government grants and their exempt tax status to compete directly with for profit business.
This is the fast track to ‘communism’……
I’m curious as to if they have “mail-in” voting? I’m guessing not?
Anytime there’s a vote in Anchorage to raise taxes it seems to miraculously pass.
I know that Whitehorse would like to conduct shipping operations through Skagway but await the people of Skagway to accept the offer. Additional resource opportunities avail more revenue without increased taxes. This principle applies for many communities where diverse resource industry exists. Unaccepting leaders of industry will result in collapsing communities…look at Anchorage.
It sounds like Skagway is smarter than Sitka. Although the citizens weren’t allowed to vote on selling our community hospital to SEARHC, our “wiser than thou” city assembly did. Now our health care really sucks and is more expensive to boot!
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