[0:00] All council members to silence and put away cell phones. If you need to step

[0:03] away or attend to personal matters, please make a motion to recess. For

[0:07] those participating by phone, please keep your device muted unless you are

[0:11] speaking. When speaking, kindly state your name for the benefit of those

[0:14] viewing the live stream. As a reminder, this meeting is being broadcast live.

[0:19] The camera is located above the clock at the back of the council chambers. Our

[0:23] proceedings follow Robert's rules of order as set forth in Wasillo Municipal

[0:27] Code 2.04.09. 090 to promote an orderly and respectful meeting. I respectfully

[0:33] ask the council to observe the following rules. Please seek recognization before

[0:38] speaking. No member may speak more than twice on the same motion without a vote

[0:42] to suspend the rules. No member may speak a second time until all who wish

[0:46] to speak have had the opportunity to do so. These guidelines help ensure

[0:51] fairness, efficiency, and mutual respect during our discussions. When clerk,

[0:55] please call the role. Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. Council

[0:59] member [snorts] Codle is absent and excused unless objection is raised. She

[1:04] is in route to the AML conference and is going to try to call in. So, so we may

[1:08] hear from her later in the meeting, but for now, she's absent. Council member

[1:12] Graham >> here.

[1:13] » Council member Schmidt >> here.

[1:15] » Council member Grafton >> here.

[1:16] » Council member Johnson >> here.

[1:18] » And Deputy Mayor Rubio >> here.

[1:20] » You do have a quorum. All members are present with us in chambers except

[1:24] council member Codle who may participate telephonically later in the meeting.

[1:28] » Thank you. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Council member Graham, would

[1:31] you please lead us?

[1:36] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:41] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[1:48] justice for all.

[1:54] The next item of business is approval of the agenda. Before changes are

[1:57] discussed, are there conflicts of interest to declare?

[2:01] Hearing none, I'll take requested changes to the agenda. But before doing

[2:05] so, I would like to move resolution serial number 26-47,

[2:11] item 8.3.1, from the consent agenda to new business.

[2:17] Are there further changes to the agenda? Hearing

[2:22] none, the agenda is approved as presented unanimous. Unanimously

[2:26] consent. Unanimous consent. Sorry. We are now at special orders of the day.

[2:32] And there is one proclamation I will read for

[2:38] city of proclamation recognizing September 11th as patriot day and a

[2:43] national day of service and remembrance. Whereas on September 11th, 2001, our

[2:49] nation endured an unprecedented tragedy that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000

[2:54] innocent people in New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. And

[3:00] whereas the events of that day revealed the resilience, courage, and unity of

[3:04] the American people as first responders, service members, and everyday citizens

[3:09] demonstrated extraordinary heroism and selflessness.

[3:14] And whereas Patriot Day and the National Day of Remembrance honors the victims of

[3:19] the attacks, their families, and the countless individuals who rose in

[3:23] service to their communities and nation doing during and after the tragic

[3:29] events. And whereas September 11th, 2026, our nation observes the 25th

[3:34] anniversary of the September 11th attacks, marking a significant milestone

[3:38] to reflect on the lasting impact of that day and to honor the enduring strength

[3:43] of the American spirit. And whereas communities across the nation continue

[3:48] to demonstrate resilience through service, remembrance, and commitment to

[3:52] the values that bind us together as Americans. And whereas we salute those

[3:57] who responded to the tragic events with their courage and selfless

[4:01] determination, resources, and skills. And whereas the city stands in sol c

[4:07] solitary with communities across the country to

[4:10] remember and honor the sacrifices made on September 11th, 2001, and to reaffirm

[4:16] our shared dedication to freedom, unity, and service. Now therefore, I, Glenda D.

[4:22] Leadford, mayor of city was hereby proclamate September 11th, 2026 as

[4:27] Patriot Day, a national day of service and remembrance in Wasilla and encourage

[4:33] all residents observe this day through moments of silence, acts of services,

[4:37] and reflection in honor of victims, survivors, first responders, and all

[4:42] those whose lives were forever changed. Reaffirming our commitment to the values

[4:47] of freedom, courage, compassion, and unity dated this 25th day of August 20

[4:54] 26.

[5:01] We are now at commissions and agency reports. We will begin with a report on

[5:05] the airport commission from public director Shaw.

[5:10] » Thank you, madame deputy mayor. Um, last Thursday we had our August Airport

[5:15] Advisory Commission meeting. Um, we went over project updates and then the

[5:20] commission also passed a resolution of support for the ongoing uh, land

[5:25] purchase and uh, expansion of the 5100 foot runway which we're eligible now

[5:30] for. So I'll be submitting that to the council shortly in the in this week so

[5:35] that you have a come before you uh, at the next meeting. That's my report.

[5:40] Thanks. Thank you. And next is our report on the

[5:45] planning commission, but our acting city planner is not here. So, if you would

[5:50] please refer to the notes in the packet. >> We have meeting minutes.

[5:53] » The meeting minutes are there. We'll conclude commission and agency

[5:58] reports with a presentation on city sales tax regulation and exemptions from

[6:03] tax auditor and accountant Graham.

[6:28] Okay, we're up. So, Moren Graham, sales tax accountant and auditor of the city

[6:32] of Oello. Um, good evening, deputy mayor, council members.

[6:38] Um, I've been asked to provide the council

[6:41] with an overview of the city of Wasel's current business licensing, sales tax

[6:45] exemptions, and protest procedures and identify potential policy changes for

[6:51] future council consideration. >> Excuse me, Marie. Can you move that

[6:55] microphone a little closer? Thank you. >> You bet.

[6:58] » Okay. Can you hear me now? >> Thank you. [laughter]

[7:02] So, I have been asked to provide the council with an overview of the city of

[7:06] Wel's current business licensing, sales tax, exemptions, and protest procedures,

[7:09] and identify policy changes, potential policy changes for future council

[7:14] consideration. There are a lot of there's a lot of

[7:18] information to get through, so we'll try to cover it fairly quickly, and I'll try

[7:22] not to get too far in the weeds or put you to sleep with my tax nerd speak. And

[7:28] I'm sorry to everyone who has to wait to speak after me. Um,

[7:36] so if you have questions along the way, uh, we'll break in between the the

[7:40] sections here. So feel free to ask them along the the way or interrupt me if you

[7:46] feel the need to.

[7:50] So we'll begin with licensing. So who needs a license?

[7:54] A person or entity that engages in business in the city with a location in

[7:58] the city either permanent or temporary meets the physical presence or meets the

[8:02] physical presence required um requirements underella municipal code

[8:06] 5.16 sales tax is required to have a city of Wasella business license. We

[8:12] have two types of licenses. an annual expiring December 31st of the calendar

[8:17] year it's been issued in and a temporary or special event license that's good for

[8:21] 7 days from the start of the event. The city issues a license for each

[8:27] location or each line of business that the lency engages in business.

[8:34] The current license fees are $25 for an annual license and $10 for a special

[8:39] event license. The payment is waved for nonprofits designated as a 501c 4, C3,

[8:46] C4, or C19 with the IRS. We also wave the fee for additional

[8:52] locations in the city, secondary or third locations, or additional lines of

[8:56] business with the same business name. The state of Alaska business licensing

[9:01] allows for one license for multiple business locations and multiple lines of

[9:06] business for one fee. and we mirror that in spirit. However, our software systems

[9:12] only allow for one license location and one line of business classification code

[9:17] to be identified and printed on each license. So, we offer secondary or third

[9:21] or whatever to accommodate that.

[9:27] Submitted applications are reviewed by the planning department to determine if

[9:31] permitting is required for the use under the title 16 and notify the applicant of

[9:37] any violations. They're also reviewed by the finance

[9:40] department to determine if delinquent debts are owed to the city by any of the

[9:44] owners or officers or members of the entity for back sales tax, utilities,

[9:51] special assessments or any basically any debt owed to the city. We also verify

[9:57] professional licensing with the state of Alaska when required and document legal

[10:02] entities are registered with the state of Alaska division of corporations.

[10:09] Once approved by the planning and finance departments, an approval email

[10:14] is sent to with instructions to print the business license for those with

[10:18] paper applications that submit. The license is mailed or available for

[10:22] pickup. Applications that cannot be approved will be sent an inspection

[10:27] report with deficiencies identified from each department that are necessary for

[10:32] approval of the license. [snorts]

[10:37] Business licenses that are business licenses are non-transferable.

[10:41] If a business is sold or transferred in the city, the city must be notified

[10:45] within 15 days of the transfer. The name and contact information of the new owner

[10:50] um should be provided and submission of final sales tax returns should be

[10:54] submitted. All sales tax should be paid in full and

[10:58] must be paid in full before a new license can be issued. If purchasing a

[11:03] business, it's incumbent upon the purchaser to ensure all taxes are paid

[11:06] prior to the transfer of the business to prevent any unpaid sales tax liabilities

[11:11] under municipal code. To close a business, the city must be

[11:16] notified in writing with the submission of final sales tax returns within 15

[11:20] days of the closure or the date that the business is no longer operating in the

[11:24] city.

[11:28] Does anybody have questions so far? [clears throat]

[11:31] Okay. >> What uh what happens when somebody goes

[11:34] out of business and they don't notify you? Why is why is that 15 days in the

[11:38] code? Well, it gives us a time frame to start trying to address it, but after

[11:43] that, if they don't notify us, it just causes the city a lot of extra work to

[11:47] try to track them down to figure out what's going on, why they aren't

[11:50] contacting us. There's [clears throat] really no

[11:54] penalty, but we try to put in guidance so that they know that they need to do

[11:58] this quickly, get taxes in, and it becomes an issue, especially if they

[12:02] don't do that when they're transferring a business because then when the new

[12:05] person comes in, if there's back taxes owed, it needs to be a seamless

[12:09] transition. So, we put the rules in there, but unfortunately, compliance on

[12:14] it is difficult to maintain because if they don't tell us, we don't have a

[12:18] mechanism to do anything. Um, but it helps if we can get compliance. So, we

[12:23] always have the information out there for people and try to get them to do

[12:27] that. And we we have the information on our website as well as well as the

[12:30] closure form that we have on our [snorts] um online media site.

[12:36] » Thank you. >> Yep. Any other questions?

[12:43] » Okay. Sales tax basics.

[12:49] A 2.5% sales tax is levied on all sales, rentals, and services made in the city

[12:53] that are not expressly exempt in code. This rate became effective on December

[12:58] 1st, 2019. The sales tax was passed by voters and

[13:03] became effective July 1st, 1993. I've included a history of the rate

[13:08] changes for various projects that's been funded with temporary increases over the

[13:12] years. I've been here for five of these changes

[13:15] and joke that it's put at least some of the gray hair on my head. [laughter]

[13:20] Changes to the sales tax rate and the code in general require multiple notices

[13:26] and education for all businesses as well as compliance efforts by the city to

[13:30] ensure the changes are properly executed by the businesses.

[13:38] There's a cap on the first $500 of each transaction or $12.50 at the city's

[13:44] current tax rate. [snorts] Many communities in Alaska

[13:49] um have a sales tax cap and the amounts vary by jurisdiction. Sales tax caps are

[13:54] kind of unique to the state of Alaska because we don't have a statewide sales

[13:58] tax

[14:02] and that that all businesses would be required to collect. So the cap helps to

[14:07] keep local businesses competitive with businesses operating in areas where

[14:11] there is no sales tax. Communities in more isolated areas tend to have a

[14:16] higher tax cap as there's less competition for sales outside of their

[14:19] boundaries. While municipal code provides guidance

[14:24] regarding the max tax uh calculations for specific transactions.

[14:31] Services rendered over a month are capped on the first $500 for each month,

[14:36] even if invoiced or paid at one time. A service contracts for six months would

[14:41] be prrated for each month and only capped if the monthly amount is over the

[14:46] transaction cap per month. Short-term rentals, the cap [clears throat] is

[14:50] applied to the daily rental rate, not the entire stay. So, if the daily rent

[14:55] rate was more than $500, then the portion over 500 would be exempt each

[14:59] day. Capital leases or financing leases are

[15:04] treated as a sale on the effective date of the contract and subject to the

[15:07] maximum tax as one transaction. Other lease types are taxed with the

[15:13] principal amount of the lease payment for the term of the lease. If the if a

[15:19] purchase is made at the end of the lease, then that's taxed as a separate

[15:22] transaction and subject to the cap. uh interest and financing charges are

[15:27] related to the lease payment are not subject to sales tax. Installment

[15:31] payments are taxed uh as a single transaction collected on the first

[15:36] payment. And products with service transactions in excess of 500 are exempt

[15:41] when the product and the service are build or invoiced together and the

[15:46] service is directly related or integral to the uh product purchase such as

[15:51] delivery, installation, warranty or repair.

[15:55] Service transactions are taxed on each separate service over $500, whether

[16:00] invoiced or paid individually, collectively or collectively for the

[16:04] period.

[16:09] Application of sales tax. A local sale is made when the seller

[16:15] establishes physical presence in the city by one or more of the following and

[16:19] the sale has a point of delivery within the city. Physical presence is created

[16:23] when the business has a brickandmortar or temporary location in the city.

[16:28] Physically solicits business or receives orders through any employee, agent,

[16:33] salesperson or other representative in the city.

[16:38] Physically provides services, holds inventory within the city, rents, sells,

[16:43] or leases property that's located in the city, or constructs, repairs, renovates,

[16:48] or improves real property that's located in the city.

[16:52] A seller that makes a local sale is required to obtain a city business

[16:56] license and report and remit sales tax directly to the city of Wasala.

[17:04] A seller that establishes physical presence and a point of delivery in the

[17:08] city for any calendar year is deemed to have a physical presence in the city for

[17:11] the following calendar year. After that year, if they no longer have physical

[17:17] presence, they can close their account out or if they continue in the future or

[17:21] establish it in the future, they would reopen at that point.

[17:26] Remote sales are made when a remote seller or marketplace facilitator

[17:30] without a physical presence in the city makes sales of products, rentals, or

[17:34] provide services transferred electronically or delivered to a point

[17:38] of delivery located inside the city and subject to the Alaska remote seller

[17:41] sales tax code adopted by reference in municipal code 5.16.225.

[17:47] [laughter]

[17:49] Marketplace facilitators centralized administrative provisions are what

[17:53] council just passed last month which allows for local sales of goods,

[17:57] services, and rentals made through marketplace facilitators

[18:00] having a point of delivery in the city to be considered remote sales and

[18:04] collected through the Alaska remote seller sales tax commission.

[18:13] The Alaska Uniform Remote Seller sales tax code that was adopted by reference

[18:16] in our code requires remote sellers with no physical presence in the city to

[18:21] register remit sales tax with a point of delivery in the city when their

[18:25] statewide sales meet or exceed $100,000 in the current or preceding calendar

[18:29] year. Those taxes are remitted to the ARSTC and collections are sent to the

[18:34] city the following month. Madam

[18:38] » you may sorry, can we go back to that real quick?

[18:43] Sorry, I'm just trying to get an ex what could you give me an

[18:47] example of a business that falls under this?

[18:50] » Sure. Um, so anybody who's making a sale in the city by remote means, so one of

[18:56] your online remote sellers, if they are selling into the city, they meet they

[19:01] don't have physical presence here, but they meet the um

[19:06] uh point of delivery. So, the next question is, do they have $100,000 worth

[19:11] of sales into the state? If they do, then they're required to register and

[19:16] collect tax with the Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission, ARSTC.

[19:21] If they don't meet that threshold, they will not collect or register until they

[19:26] do unless they voluntarily do it. Some some of them do do that, but um yeah,

[19:32] and the ARSTC does monitor that and they they have some that they've weeded out

[19:37] that don't meet those thresholds, but um a lot of the companies, they use uh

[19:43] taxwork companies that help them know when those thresholds are coming up

[19:47] because it's not just our state that has that threshold.

[19:50] So, they're monitoring any states that they're doing sales into for that magic

[19:54] number. and when they hit it then they register and then they have I think um a

[19:59] number of days that they need to register within before they're you know

[20:03] penalized. >> So the best example is probably Amazon.

[20:06] » Yes. So um well Amazon is one. We also have Amazon's that local sales apply to

[20:13] because um Amazon has a local presence in our community through sales delivery

[20:18] trucks and things like that. So they do remote they do remmit to us directly.

[20:23] But their other side of their business that is the marketplace facilitator side

[20:27] where people sell their products on their website would be um the one that

[20:33] remits through the ARSTC. Shopify, Wayfair, um I mean there's tons of them.

[20:40] Apple uh yeah all of those guys that that remmit any kind of remote sales.

[20:45] » Perfect. Thank you. Mhm. >> Now, you said that uh

[20:51] uh the remote solar sales tax corporation remits that money to you

[20:57] within 30 days. How long has it been since they remitted that within 30 days?

[21:02] My understanding they're closer to 90 days out. Is that incorrect?

[21:06] » No, they actually do it every month. So, um it's a little delayed though because

[21:10] the So, let's see. um June sales tax is due the end of July for all businesses.

[21:18] So they receive the ARCC receives the money in July, they then uh once July is

[21:25] closed out, they balance those out and they remit it to us. Usually they try to

[21:32] do it by the 15th, but due to system constraints and other issues, it's been

[21:37] pushed back a little bit. So, it's usually pushing the end of our month and

[21:42] then it takes us a few days, weeks sometimes to get those

[21:47] payments in because we do individually receipt them. That is something that we

[21:51] do for tracking purposes and we're working hopefully with our new systems

[21:56] when we do when we convert to Tyler, we'll be able to um electronically put

[22:01] those payments in so that we won't be spending so much manual time entering

[22:05] those payments. But since we've done it for so long, I hate to lose that um

[22:11] history or have a gap in the history uh knowing that we're going to be

[22:16] converting to Tyler in the next year or a little over a year.

[22:20] » Thank you. >> So, we continue to do it even though it

[22:22] takes a little bit of time. >> Any other questions?

[22:31] Sourcing of sales tax uh and point of delivery. Um [clears throat] point of

[22:36] delivery is the location where the sale or service is received by the buyer

[22:41] where they take possession or make first use of services.

[22:46] While sell sales tax code spec provides specific guidance in its definition of

[22:53] point of delivery when the product is not received or paid for by the

[22:58] purchaser at a business location of the seller in the city. The sale is

[23:02] considered delivered to the location where the uh where received by the

[23:06] purchaser or the purchaser's recipient. An example would be an online or phone

[23:10] sale that's delivered to a location in the city. It's taxable wherever that

[23:15] location in the city would be. So it' be a city sale.

[23:21] When the product is received or paid for by the purchaser who's physically

[23:26] present at a business location in the city, the sale is considered to have

[23:30] been made in the city where the purchaser is present even if delivery of

[23:35] the product takes place in another taxing jurisdiction

[23:38] or outside the taxing jurisdiction. These sales are reported and the tax is

[23:43] remitted directly to the city. So this would be if you went to a store in LA in

[23:48] in the city, paid for say an appliance and you're in the store paying for it,

[23:55] you would pay sales tax at the store because even if you have it delivered to

[24:00] your home outside the city or in another lo location like Palmer,

[24:05] it's considered a city sale. [snorts]

[24:13] When services are not received by the purchaser at the business location of

[24:17] the seller, the service is considered delivered to the location where the

[24:20] purchaser receives the service. Products or services that are transferred

[24:24] electronically or other sales where the delivery address is for the purchaser is

[24:28] unknown, then the point of delivery shall be the billing address of the

[24:31] buyer. And when products and services are

[24:36] transferred electronically or sales where the delivery address for the

[24:40] purchaser is unknown, the point of delivery shall be the billing address of

[24:43] the per of the buyer. These rules were specifically written to match sourcing

[24:49] language in the Alaska remote seller sales tax commission to uniformly source

[24:53] the sales tax and prevent double tax situations for both the remote and local

[24:58] sales that cross jurisdictional uh tax jurisdictional boundaries. The city of

[25:04] Palmer also uses the same language,

[25:10] which is helpful since they're so close to us.

[25:14] The code has rules for specific types of businesses. Um, for real estate

[25:20] transactions, the commissions and fees are taxed for the sale, lease, or

[25:25] management of properties that are located in the city. There's also

[25:29] specific rules for the sale of gaming property as well as coin operated

[25:33] machines.

[25:37] The city has tons of information to help assist businesses with understanding

[25:40] their responsibilities for collection and remittance of sales tax on our

[25:44] website as well as links to our sales tax code. We have pages for licensing

[25:49] and pages for sales tax and lots of links in between.

[25:58] We also have a flowchart for both sales and services to assist businesses with

[26:03] more complex points of delivery that cross taxing jurisdictions or that may

[26:07] have remote sales into or out of the city. Businesses that have questions are

[26:12] encouraged to request a tax ruling on any specific questions for their

[26:16] business that they may have.

[26:22] Additionally, the city is working with the Small Business Development Center to

[26:26] provide education classes for new businesses. Currently, these are offered

[26:30] in person, but hopefully soon will be available on demand as well. We also

[26:35] work collaboratively with the burrow and neighboring cities and the Alaska Remote

[26:40] Seller Sales Tax Commission to educate businesses and refer them to other

[26:44] entities or agencies when applicable.

[26:51] Sales tax filing and remittance. Tax returns are due monthly, but

[26:56] businesses may request to file on an annual or quarterly basis if they have a

[27:02] timely filing history um for the private prior year and meet taxable sales

[27:08] thresholds of $150,000 for quarterly and $6,000 for annual. Request forms are

[27:14] available in the finance department and on our website. Are those numbers

[27:18] correct? It says quarterly 150,000 but annual 6,000.

[27:22] » Is it 15,000 quarterly and then 1,500 quarterly to be 6,000 annually?

[27:29] » Those are annual numbers. So they if they have sales that are $150,000

[27:33] annually, then they qualify for being a quarterly filer.

[27:38] » Okay. >> If they have $6,000 or less annually,

[27:42] then they can be an annual filer. >> Thank you.

[27:45] » Yeah. And that 6,000 basically equates to $12.50 a month. So like if they had

[27:50] one max transaction, they could do annual. Other than that, it's infrequent

[27:55] that we do that, but we do have a lot of businesses that file zeros for the

[28:00] entire year for different reasons. And so this gives us an option to give them

[28:03] an annual return. Other than that, we try to limit it in case, you know,

[28:08] because some people say they're going to not do something and then they end up

[28:11] doing it. So, it's best to try them out at quarterly if we're unsure, which is

[28:15] why we require the year prior history, although we do sometimes make exceptions

[28:20] for businesses that are obviously probably not going to meet that

[28:22] transaction level.

[28:26] Credit and debit cards may be used for um payments made online only and they

[28:33] incur a 3% convenience fee. There is no fee for online echeks.

[28:39] Cash and check are or can be remitted directly to the Fincaster Department

[28:43] office. Businesses may take a 2% credit of the

[28:48] tax amount due up to $100 per tax return for on-time payments.

[28:55] Payment is late if it's not received in the finance office by the last business

[29:01] day. I'm sorry, by the last day of the month following the period uh the

[29:05] reporting period. Postmarks are not considered, so it has to be received in

[29:10] our office. Penalties are 5% of the tax amount due for each month that the

[29:16] return is late, maxing at 20% with an additional late fee of $25. Interest

[29:22] occurs daily at 15%. And additional civil penalties are

[29:27] charged if the city does not receive a tax return at all and has to estimate

[29:31] the tax owed. Penalty waiverss are allowed one time in

[29:35] a 12-month period. Penalties may be waved, but not the

[29:40] interest or the credit for prompt pay.

[29:48] Electronic tax returns are available online in our online software programs.

[29:54] Instructions for each line of the tax return can be expanded by clicking on

[29:59] the line item of the return. Returns must be electronically signed, dated,

[30:04] and then submitted for payment either with echek or an credit or debit card.

[30:10] They al also may be saved as a pending form and then um payment sent in or uh

[30:16] brought in if people don't want to, you know, pay online.

[30:22] For those that are technology challenged or adverse

[30:26] um and prefer to do their paper uh returns, we do have paper forms in our

[30:31] uh office as well as on the website. We do not mail sales tax returns. So,

[30:37] businesses are encouraged uh to sign up for online account even if they don't

[30:42] file that way just so they receive reminder and email notices of due dates.

[30:49] If they don't do that and they forget, then they don't get notified until

[30:52] they're late and then they get a late notice.

[30:57] » So, I have a a question regarding online tax payments. You know, we have a 3%

[31:03] convenience fee if someone pays with a credit card, but if they decide to skip

[31:08] the 3% fee and walk in and talk to you and pay that way,

[31:13] » Mhm. They can't >> What's that? They can come in and pay,

[31:17] but they can't pay with a credit card. They have to only do

[31:20] » Right. But what I'm saying is if they if they pay online, isn't that more

[31:27] convenient for us? >> It is.

[31:29] » And so, doesn't it seem odd that we're charging them a convenience fee? I know

[31:33] a lot of uh you know uh you know credit card companies and things nowadays uh

[31:39] say the convenience fee is well if you want a paper bill

[31:43] » then there's a convenience fee you know and if you just handle it online

[31:47] » they don't charge anything extra to yeah what what is the

[31:51] » I think the the basis there is that um a lot of businesses or you know people in

[31:58] general um want to pay a lot of things online with their credit cards because

[32:01] they get benefits for those transactions. These tend to be large

[32:05] transactions. Um, on some businesses, the fees are pretty high. I mean, we're

[32:11] getting charged 3% by the credit card companies and so we want to be able to

[32:15] pass that on and not to other taxpayers because it's the taxpayers that are

[32:19] paying those fees. Um, it's certainly something that can be looked at. It's

[32:23] not uh it's mostly policy. I don't think there would be any reason that you guys

[32:29] couldn't change it if you wanted to. Um, I'm sure that the finance department

[32:33] could get those numbers together for you of how much the credit card charges are

[32:37] versus, you know, what we would so what we would be paying or what the taxpayers

[32:40] would be paying for those fees for other people to pay. Um, but it's a good

[32:44] question. They can pay online with an echek. They just can't do it with a

[32:49] credit card and they can't do it in person either. So, the only way to pay

[32:54] with a credit card is online. And um currently we're not accepting uh AC

[33:02] payments from businesses uh where they initiate a payment to us um for taxes.

[33:11] That's something that I'm hoping we will be doing in the next system. So that'll

[33:15] just give them another layer or option of payment. Um so that's something to

[33:20] look forward to hopefully. And Tyler, >> thank you.

[33:24] » Council member Codle, are you online? Yes, I am.

[33:28] » Thank you. Joined us at 6:33.

[33:34] » All right. Getting close. Sales tax exemptions.

[33:41] Municipal code exemptions um provides a list of 24 exemptions to

[33:46] the city city's uh sales tax code. Some are required by state or federal

[33:52] statutes. Others mirror exemptions of other taxing jurisdictions around the

[33:56] state. I've highlighted a few that differ from neighboring cities which

[34:00] include number 12, [snorts] 15, 16, 18, and 24 that we're going to

[34:08] discuss further in a little bit. And then we can come back to these if you

[34:12] have questions. We can go over them if you'd like to, but we'll probably those

[34:17] other ones are um kind of ones we really can't change or wouldn't look to change.

[34:22] So, >> Adam, deputy mayor.

[34:26] » Yes, Council Member Cracken. >> All right. I know we're going to talk

[34:28] about it in a moment just because I'm looking at it at the second though.

[34:30] Number 18. >> Mhm.

[34:32] » Um I believe pretty much everything in there exempted by state law.

[34:37] » Was there something in there specific that you were like, "This actually isn't

[34:41] covered that we wanted to or were considering changing?"

[34:44] » Yeah. So healthc care um services are provided by um providers that are

[34:50] licensed by the state of Alaska. So our code basically says that any provider

[34:56] under title 8 is eligible um for human health care which is an important

[35:02] distinction because veterinarians are in there. So we have basically said that

[35:07] you know not all title 8 but all but veterinarians or anybody that's not

[35:13] doing human um would be ex would would qualify for the exemption. So there are

[35:19] other uh providers in title 8 that provide human health care, but other

[35:25] codes such as maybe the city of Palmer's and others limit it even further saying

[35:31] it's only uh medical doctor services, chiropractors, dentists, and they give a

[35:37] list of the ones that they want specifically. But dieticians,

[35:43] um, massage therapists, and others that are not necessarily in

[35:48] the mainstream medical field, um, might be ones that you might not want to

[35:54] exempt and other places don't exempt. So, there is a little bit of room in

[36:00] there if you want to go through the list of the title 8 provider um under the

[36:05] state statutes, the different types of uh medical providers and see if there's

[36:10] are any in there that you don't want to exempt.

[36:13] » Gotcha. Thank you.

[36:20] » So, I have a >> Sure.

[36:22] » another question for you here on page 12, slide number 12, I think it is. Uh,

[36:28] the maximum tax per transaction talks about sales rendered over one month. The

[36:33] payment of rent in excess of $500 and for more than one month shall be treated

[36:38] as a separate transaction, making me think it's taxable. But when I

[36:43] look at page 28, it says uh or excuse me,

[36:48] » res page 29 number 15 where it says residential rentals for a term of 30 or

[36:53] more consecutive days. >> That's correct. So all rentals are taxed

[36:58] in the city except for residential rentals currently. So commercial rentals

[37:02] are taxed. Short-term rentals are taxed. Tangible personal property rentals are

[37:08] taxed. >> Okay.

[37:09] » Um only residential rental is exempt. >> And that's all residential rentals.

[37:17] » Thank you, >> Council Member Johnson.

[37:19] » So storage units, for instance, are text.

[37:23] » Those are those are taxable. >> Okay.

[37:25] » Yeah. And we're collecting tax on them. >> We are

[37:29] » on the monthly charges and and we do have that caveat in the code like you

[37:34] said like you pointed out. So let's just say I pay for all 12 months of my

[37:39] storage rental at one time. That doesn't excuse um and it goes over 500 bucks,

[37:45] you don't get to have a cap. You prorrate that for each month's rental

[37:49] and then it's taxed. So you wouldn't be able to lessen your tax liability by

[37:55] paying a larger amount at one time.

[38:00] » So an organization that is exempt from paying sales tax, for instance, a

[38:06] doctor, if he's renting his property,

[38:12] he or she or they are paying tax on the rental but not paying tax on the service

[38:18] that they provide. Is that correct? Yes, but the for the business purpose,

[38:25] like if they're renting a a place for their doctor's office, that would be the

[38:29] commercial rental would be taxable. If they were renting a private residence,

[38:33] that would be not taxable currently under code.

[38:36] » Thank you.

[38:45] » And we're going to talk a little bit more about that at the end here.

[38:51] So, additionally, we exempt sales tax on sales [snorts] made by a qualifying

[38:57] nonprofit that are recognized by the IRS as a 51c3, C4, or C19 organization.

[39:04] So,

[39:09] um, and then we also have sales tax exemption certificates or certain

[39:14] entities that qualify to apply for an exempt. These certain ones apply uh can

[39:21] apply for an exemption. We offer one for contractors which cost $250. Owner

[39:27] builders can obtain one for $35. Uh wholesale manufacturing businesses and

[39:32] nonprofits for $10 each. The tax exemption certificates exempt qualifying

[39:37] purchases from taxation. The purpose of these exemptions for

[39:41] contractors, owner builders, and wholesale exemptions is to prevent items

[39:45] that are resold, consumed, or transferred, transformed into another

[39:50] new product from being taxed multiple times prior to the sale, the end sale to

[39:55] the consumer.

[40:00] » Madame Mayor, Deputy Mayor, >> Council Member Johnson,

[40:03] » going back to slide 30. Um [snorts] so if you had a nonprofit which

[40:12] has say a coffee shop uh the coffee that is [snorts]

[40:18] sold then it's non tax. >> If the nonprofit sells anything in the

[40:24] city under this code it's not taxed at this point

[40:30] » even though they're providing service to the general public.

[40:38] Yep. And we're going to talk a lot about that at the well some we'll bring that

[40:41] up again, but yes, you're in the right ballpark. Um, anything that a nonprofit

[40:46] sells or services they provide are exempt under this code, this section.

[40:52] » Council member Graham, >> and that's any nonprofit that is a C3,

[40:57] C4, C19. There are like 40 different >> types of nonprofits. Most would be

[41:02] subject to >> Exactly. although I think the majority

[41:05] of them are probably fall under C3. Um C3 and four

[41:12] are most common and then the 19s are mostly your veterans associations.

[41:18] So, but we have others sixes and there's

[41:23] some others like um labor unions and different ones that that are different

[41:29] numbers under the IRS code. veterans taxes

[41:36] sales. No.

[41:40] » Yeah, a lot of your veterans organizations, there's there's quite a

[41:43] few things that are not taxed under this particular thing. So, we can and we'll

[41:48] talk more about that.

[41:52] [snorts] Okay. Buyers that are incorrectly

[41:56] charged sales tax may protest the tax within 60 days and may include incorrect

[42:01] uh this may include like incorrect assessments of tax rates, sales tax

[42:06] caps, um sales tax on locations that are outside the city limits or sales tax um

[42:12] you know exemption certificates that are not honored for some reason. Uh two tips

[42:17] to reduce incorrect tax assessments are to provide sellers with uh tax lookup

[42:23] report which is found on the uh website that's provided by the Alaska Real

[42:29] Seller Sales Tax Commission and also to use your zip plus4 in your delivery and

[42:35] mailing addresses for products or services that you have delivered. These

[42:39] are tips um that we also publish on our website under the sales tax exemption

[42:43] page. The reason for the plus4 designation is when you are using a a

[42:49] mailing address or zip code to determine the sales tax, the first thing they're

[42:53] looking at is the 99654 or 99687, which says it's in Wasilla.

[42:58] The uh tax companies say taxable. So,

[43:03] they're going to code it in being taxable. The plus4 tells the system

[43:09] where in the map of the city are you located and it'll tell you if you're

[43:13] inside or outside the boundaries if that's the mechanism they're using to

[43:17] determine it. So it's the GIS portion that pinpoints the exact location of the

[43:21] address as in or outside of the boundary. If you don't have that,

[43:25] they're just going to capture Wasilla and you're going to get charged sales

[43:28] tax even if the address is outside the city. The plus4 will tell it it's

[43:32] outside the city and therefore you won't have the sales tax. So on all your tell

[43:37] your friends if they're getting charged tax or they're sometimes they're not

[43:41] even looking or paying attention. So it's just really a good rule of thumb to

[43:44] always put the plus4 in on all your little apps and the payments and Google

[43:50] and all those things so that it's correctly assessing the proper amount.

[43:54] The ARSTC is looking at um doing some addressing work with some of the bigger

[44:02] uh with Avalera and others that are big tax word companies to give them specific

[44:08] addresses to help eliminate or alleviate some of those incorrect tax assessments

[44:13] because of the zip without the four. But um usually uh when we find that people

[44:19] are being charged when they're outside the city, telling them to to do that and

[44:23] change those settings usually makes it work. Not always, but a lot of times.

[44:28] And so if it doesn't work, then we try the other um mechanism of uh sending

[44:34] this report, which we're going to go over next. If you go to this website

[44:37] that I'm referring to, the Alaska Tax lookup, which is provided by the ARSTC,

[44:42] you can look up any address in the state, and it will tell you where it is.

[44:48] If it's in a tech, you know, it's in the state, it's in the bureau, it's in the

[44:51] city. It'll tell you exactly if there's any tax owed in which jurisdiction

[44:55] you're paying it to. Um,

[44:59] it will also allow you on this side here, it will you

[45:04] can hit export and it will print out this report or bring it up. You can save

[45:09] it uh and provide it to anybody who's charging you sales tax. So, you can let

[45:12] them know that hey, this location's not in the city or it is and it's, you know,

[45:17] valid validated. Um, the tax rate is all, you know, presented there. It also

[45:23] gives information to, you know, sellers that are trying to find out if

[45:27] something's taxable or not. Uh, it gives them the rules of the c tax caps and

[45:33] many other things about our code that they can search through uh to see if,

[45:36] you know, particular transactions are exempt.

[45:39] So, it's a it's a very helpful thing, especially for businesses that are doing

[45:44] transactions, you know, not just in elsewhere as well.

[45:52] Are there any questions so far about exemptions? And okay, so options for

[45:59] change.

[46:03] So reasons for change, we'll go over first. Um,

[46:08] there are multiple things to consider when we think about changing the sales

[46:11] tax code. consistency uh between local city codes to help businesses that

[46:17] operate across the boundaries throughout the bureau as well as the rest of the

[46:21] state. Clarity to make interpretation clear and

[46:25] concise. Fairness to equal or level the playing

[46:29] field for competing businesses um within the city and uh businesses that compete

[46:36] with those outside of the city. and revenue to broaden the tax revenue

[46:41] sources which is consistent with the council goals and initiatives to

[46:46] evaluate current and future tax revenue sources.

[46:52] So, I've identified a few areas that um are potential places that the code could

[46:58] be changed if the council uh feels like it's in the best interest

[47:03] of the city.

[47:07] Um the first one is kind of where uh Mr. Johnson was going, which was the 501c3s

[47:14] uh exempt. We could require that uh entities operating more than 20 hours um

[47:22] would have to remit sales tax. That would put us consistent with what the

[47:26] city of Palmer does. Um, it would make the codes consistent and it would allow

[47:34] for the types of businesses that are competing against other businesses that

[47:39] don't have that have to collect the sales tax. It would put them on the same

[47:43] even playing field. That's one option if you wanted to go in that direction.

[47:48] We're not advocating for that. Just trying to give options and and

[47:53] understanding what um doing something like that would do or not do. This would

[47:58] um also allow for uh the smaller nonprofits

[48:05] that are not working m you know operating businesses necessarily. They

[48:11] would not have to remit. So you're not dealing with like your local booster

[48:15] club or you know t-shirt sellers that are raising money for their cause or

[48:20] something like that. So um it's one option. It is something that um Palmer

[48:25] does because they have quite a few of these um operations that uh do like the

[48:31] fair and other places that are are 501c3s and and those revenues are

[48:35] important to that city. So, it's just something to consider. Also, the you

[48:40] know level playing field of keeping other businesses competitive.

[48:46] Another option is um to tax all gaming regardless of the nonprofit status. So

[48:53] whether they're open for 20 hours or more or just any nonprofit that sells

[48:57] gaming, um you could, you know, look at that being a rule. I do believe, um

[49:03] Palmer has some regulations like that, too. I don't know if it's all or if it's

[49:07] just I think they might limit it to only gaming that's done at the state

[49:10] fairgrounds, but um you guys could do whatever you know you want, but it's

[49:15] something that has room for a change. Um,

[49:22] also this section of code, uh, back when we were looking at the specific rules

[49:27] for different particular businesses, this one, um, it was written a long time

[49:32] ago. And it was written, I think, mostly with pull tabs and bingo in mind.

[49:38] And the gaming options have expanded now and include like a state lottery and

[49:44] other forms of gambling. So, um, that might be just something that we want to

[49:49] look at to see if there's other options for us to tax. Uh,

[49:56] currently any nonprofits that are selling, uh, any gaming on their own are

[50:02] not required to collect sales tax. But, uh, for-profit operators that sell on

[50:08] behalf of nonprofits, because you have to, if you're selling any kind of

[50:11] gaming, it has to go for the benefit of a nonprofit. But those for-profit ones

[50:16] are paying sales tax. So they are at an unfair, you know, competitiveness, I

[50:21] guess, or advantage. Um, the code makes it difficult to

[50:26] administer when when uh some of these sales are the way it's currently

[50:31] written, when some of these sales are made outside of the city. So like I

[50:35] said, bingo and and pull tabs, they're all done here. But these other things

[50:40] like raffle tickets and you know different things those some of the

[50:45] tickets might be sold here and some might be outside the city but the way

[50:48] that the code is written it makes it difficult for a business to be able to

[50:51] determine or a nonprofit to be able to determine that. So those are things that

[50:54] we want to look at if you want to change something like that.

[51:00] [sighs] We could increase the sales tax cap. That's another room for change. Um,

[51:05] I know that the McKinley Group study uh supported an increase um without harm to

[51:12] local businesses. So, that's something that could be considered.

[51:16] Um, like I said, the caps are varying throughout the state, so different

[51:21] amounts currently. Um, that would also put us in line with the city of, you

[51:25] know, Palmer if we made the caps the same. Um, but it's just something that

[51:32] is possible. Um, I do believe that the information

[51:38] that the McKinley study did offer was on the low side. I think it's going to be

[51:42] probably higher than that, but unfortunately the number would not be

[51:45] something that we can determine at this time. There's just a range and I think

[51:49] her report and memo to you all was pretty clear about the range there. It

[51:54] was, you know, quite a large range. So, um, another thing to consider.

[52:00] [clears throat] Didn't our tax cap used to be like $1,250. We've lowered it

[52:05] considerably over the years, hasn't we? >> As far as I know, the cap tax cap has

[52:09] been on the first $500 the entire time. The rate the amount has changed because

[52:15] the rate changes. So, it used to be $12, you know, then it or it was $10 when it

[52:22] was 2%. Then it went to $1250 when it's 2.5. It was $15 when it was 3%. But it's

[52:29] always been on the first $500. So if we went to a different cap, you could cap

[52:35] it on the first 750 or you could cap it on the first thousand or you could cap

[52:40] it on, you know, whatever you want. You just want to make sure that if you do

[52:43] look at raising that, we make sure that we do all the things we need to do,

[52:48] check with legal and all that stuff. Um, but also that you don't raise it too

[52:54] high that it would hurt your local businesses and make them uncompetitive

[52:58] with businesses that are not in a taxing jurisdiction and having to collect tax.

[53:02] Um, so there's different reasons for changing it or not changing it or you

[53:08] know then you got to decide how much. So there's lots of things to consider

[53:12] there.

[53:16] Yeah. Questions? um tax on residential rentals. So, as we

[53:23] discussed earlier, residential rentals are the only rentals that we don't tax.

[53:27] Um other cities do tax them. Uh city of

[53:32] Palmer does. So, you know, it would be consistent with them. They would it

[53:36] still be uh subject to the tax cap. So, if rentals were taxed currently, they

[53:41] would be subject to the current tax rate, which is our tax cap, which is

[53:45] $500. So, no more than 1250 on any one month. Um, but obviously if you're

[53:52] looking at those other changes, then that would affect these types of things

[53:55] as well. This was number 15 on the exemption list

[54:01] that we were talking about. Um,

[54:08] so we could remove the credit for prompt pay when collecting uh from collecting

[54:13] businesses. Currently, like I said, the business that collects a sales tax um is

[54:18] offered a 2% credit up to $100 every tax period. Uh so that's for some businesses

[54:25] $1,200 a month or $1,200 a year that they would um take as a credit uh for

[54:33] them to collect our tax. The city of Palmer does not allow for a

[54:39] tax [clears throat] cap or a tax credit and there are other many others around

[54:43] the state that don't. There are many that do. So, um, our code falls in line

[54:49] with, you know, probably half of them. Um, so that's a place that you could

[54:53] look for if you were wanting to make some changes. Um, Council Member

[54:58] Schmidt, >> do you happen to have the figures on

[55:03] what the discount is on early pay? >> What we collect currently for it?

[55:09] » No, the discount. >> The discount is 2% of the tax amount due

[55:15] » for the year. How much total does that add up to?

[55:17] » It's on the next page. >> Yeah, on the next Yep. On the

[55:20] statistical page. Yeah, I'll I'll go over that for you, but yes, I did

[55:24] provide it for you. [clears throat] So, we'll skip ahead just for a second. So,

[55:29] currently in FY25, we collected $183,000 in uh credit or you know, we could have

[55:37] we've given that credit away and in the current year to date um it is uh 182

[55:44] 348. So, it's going to be real close when we get the last of the ARSTC

[55:49] payments posted. So, that's one place that could be

[55:55] changed as well. Um, Council Member Schmidt,

[55:59] » do you think that's made an uh impact on people paying promptly?

[56:05] » I don't think that it really does. I think that um the system calculates it

[56:10] for them. A lot of times before the automated system and when people were

[56:15] not filing online, a lot of times they wouldn't take the credit like they

[56:19] forget to take it. it was more difficult sometimes for some businesses to take

[56:24] it. Uh but yeah, I mean, of course, if you're offered it, you're going to take

[56:29] it, but I don't think that it would incentivize necessarily people to

[56:34] um pay on time over a penalty that's, you know, 5% or

[56:40] more. So, I think th those those incentivize

[56:45] people to pay on time more, I think, than the credit does to pay on time.

[56:50] But it is something food for thought to consider. Um, businesses do not pay

[56:57] anything as far as uh property tax to to be here. Uh, so really the only thing

[57:03] that they are paying is the $25 and obviously, you know, staff to administer

[57:07] that tax collection, but I'm sure that's not their only duty. So, um,

[57:14] so that's definitely a place to consider.

[57:19] Um, let's see what else.

[57:24] Changing the city licensing fee structure. So, we have not had an

[57:28] increase since the uh licenses were instituted in 1993. So, our tax uh

[57:35] license fee was $25 back then and it's still $25. So, that is something. Um,

[57:41] other licenses, I believe the state is $50 for a year, $100 for two. when the

[57:46] burrow had theirs, it was $50 for two years. So, um, we offer a annual only.

[57:58] I mean, we I'm not a proponent of going less than that be or more than that

[58:04] because we have our sales taxes our sales tax accounts are tied to the

[58:09] licensing and at the end of the calendar year when they don't renew their

[58:14] license, even though they're supposed to tell us and close those accounts out, it

[58:17] causes a lot of problems if they don't. And I just see if we leave it as a

[58:23] two-year license, we'll have even more of those uncertain accounts that don't

[58:27] close and just leave. So, I I would probably not recommend that, but I mean,

[58:33] certainly, we could look at it and try it, [laughter]

[58:38] but um I think other places have had other

[58:43] other problems. It it would um allow us to

[58:47] spend less time on renewal. the renewal procedures,

[58:52] but uh if if we don't do them consistently, you're still going to have

[58:57] like like the burrow I think when they did it, they they had some that were if

[59:02] you got it this year, it was good for the rest of this year and next year. So,

[59:05] you're always going to have renewals, so that really wouldn't lessen the workload

[59:09] of the of staff to do it. It they would just cycle. So,

[59:14] » Council Member Kraken, >> thank you. Um, so I guess I'm trying to

[59:18] understand what you mean by changing it because you're not advocating for

[59:21] increasing the co or increasing the cost or changing the time frame.

[59:25] » You could do any of those. I mean, you could change the fee structure to um,

[59:30] you know, less frequently and do the the, you know, like every two years. You

[59:35] could increase the fee. We could look at taxing. Um, I don't we'd have to touch

[59:40] with legal, but you could look into whether uh we could do fees based on

[59:47] gross receipts like a license fee. If your business does this kind of volume

[59:52] of sales, your license is $25 or $50. If you do this volume of sales, it's

[59:58] higher, you know, until you get to like your big huge stores that would have a

[1:00:03] larger footprint and then they would have a larger license fee. that's done

[1:00:08] in other places around the country. So, we could look to see if that if Alaska

[1:00:12] law would support something like that. We'd have to check in with there's just

[1:00:16] different things to think outside the box on, you know, our our regular $25.

[1:00:22] Um because again, these these are the only tax or only fee that that some of

[1:00:28] these businesses are are paying. So, um I think a lot of times they're they're

[1:00:33] referred to, you know, you have to have a license fee that's fees and taxes are

[1:00:38] are not the same and we don't want to have a

[1:00:43] fee that that's really a tax and so we have to kind of be careful with that and

[1:00:47] that's why we should probably involve, you know, Holly or whomever to ask some

[1:00:52] of those questions if that's something you guys want to delve into. Well, I

[1:00:56] mean, it wouldn't so much be about the fee, but to me, it's the time frame. I

[1:01:00] mean, one of the things that we discussed during, for instance, the land

[1:01:03] use development with Title 16 was the short-term rentals.

[1:01:06] » I mean, those were a year and then people were appealing them. And so, what

[1:01:10] effectively ended up happening was people that got those permits couldn't

[1:01:14] even use them because of how much time they were being tied up. And so, I I

[1:01:18] think about how much time the city spends dealing with the permits. I mean,

[1:01:21] I get it. Most of these people it should be you know you go online you click a

[1:01:24] couple buttons you pay your fee you move on you know that's that should be a

[1:01:27] majority of it but it's the ones that don't do that that start to become the

[1:01:32] time suck and you you would think you it would become

[1:01:37] more efficient to offer a longer term business license that would be in the

[1:01:43] realm of three or five years um and it could even be based on what type of

[1:01:48] business you're offering I mean do we really need Fred Meyer and Walmart

[1:01:52] coming to us every single year applying for their business license. I mean, come

[1:01:55] on. >> They're not going anywhere anytime soon,

[1:01:58] you know? >> Yeah.

[1:01:59] » So, it it it changes things like that. There's I get there's a lot of moving

[1:02:02] parts there, but that's the idea that or the question that I would ask is would

[1:02:06] that be more beneficial >> to the city?

[1:02:09] » It it could be. We could we could certainly look at it. Um, for most of

[1:02:14] our businesses that are not those guys, um, the yearly contact is kind of good

[1:02:21] because a lot of information changes and people change and locations change and

[1:02:28] people don't do all the things are supposed to do. Like

[1:02:33] I've got several businesses just that I've seen around town in the last couple

[1:02:38] of uh months that have changed locations and don't tell us they changed on their

[1:02:42] license. So if you looked up their license, they're still at their old

[1:02:45] location. And so then we end up having to contact them. Those are things that a

[1:02:50] lot of times they change on their renewal form and catch up because they

[1:02:54] see it and are asked to provide that information um or verify the information

[1:02:59] that we have as correct and they're like, "Oh, no, that's changed. Oh, that

[1:03:02] phone number's changed. Oh, this has changed. And so having that check-in

[1:03:06] yearly is beneficial because that information that we're using that is for

[1:03:10] those businesses is what helps us to collect the taxes when say they don't

[1:03:14] pay their tax form or they, you know, leave the city and because they haven't

[1:03:19] had to get a business license renewal in 5 years. If we stop getting those tax

[1:03:23] returns, then it can make some of those things kind of difficult because they

[1:03:26] just ghost us and don't tell us. So, at least at uh a year, I know that we're

[1:03:32] going to cut them off and say, "Okay, they're not coming back or they're not

[1:03:35] responding or they're not here anymore." And we know we're not going to go

[1:03:39] further than a year when we don't know what they're doing. So, that would be my

[1:03:44] only hesitation. Um, but I understand the other side of it, what you're

[1:03:48] saying, and that we would potentially save time. Um, so we can certainly look

[1:03:53] at those options or think about them. >> Thank you.

[1:04:00] Um, and then the last thing was the uh the changes to the current exemptions or

[1:04:06] exemption certificates such as the contractor owner builder exemptions. Um,

[1:04:11] and then we also kind of didn't catch all of the ones that were that I had

[1:04:16] mentioned or highlighted in our exemption forms. So, uh, exemptions on

[1:04:20] the commission of travel, that's one that oops that we could, uh, also look

[1:04:26] at. Currently, we do not tax the commission of any sales. Let me skip

[1:04:33] back to it and see.

[1:04:38] Sales of air, train, boat, cruise line or bus, transportation, car rentals,

[1:04:43] accommodations or emissions to entertainment v venues where the

[1:04:46] services provided outside the city, those are exempt and the fees and

[1:04:51] commissions related to such sales. So, if you were buying something online for

[1:04:57] a concert or whatever, um, airfare, well, it's not air because that's a

[1:05:03] whole another thing, but, um, entertainment venues, that type of

[1:05:06] thing, uh, those things are not taxable because they're

[1:05:10] not here, but the commission of the fee that somebody sells, that commission is

[1:05:16] is not taxed either. So, like your travel agencies, if you have a travel

[1:05:21] agency in town, they're selling all these things. They they get a commission

[1:05:24] fee for doing this service for you, but those are not taxed. Um, it would also

[1:05:30] be the same thing for like Expedia, which we're looking at now taxing with

[1:05:34] the uh changes that we just made last month. Um, so if Expedia is charging a

[1:05:40] percentage of the fee for their service to to do all these services for you,

[1:05:45] that fee is not going to be taxed because our code exempts it.

[1:05:51] So that's something to look out. Council member Craftton,

[1:05:55] » thank you. The part specifically I'm looking at here is what we'd consider

[1:06:00] the contractor, owner, builders, wholesale manufacturers, and nonprofit.

[1:06:05] Well, maybe we leave the nonprofit up. So contractors, owner builders,

[1:06:08] wholesale manufacturers. When I look at the contractors, owner builders,

[1:06:13] they're allowed to pl apply for an exemption. So they don't have to pay a

[1:06:18] uh sales tax on every single individual transaction they make. So when they go

[1:06:23] buy the concrete, they buy the blocks, they buy the wood, every single item

[1:06:27] that they buy to build the house doesn't get taxed. That's essentially the

[1:06:31] exemption they're applying for. Correct. >> Correct. And they pay $250 for it. and

[1:06:37] » and it's yearly, right? >> It's yearly. And [clears throat] the um

[1:06:41] there's no caveat that the required um that the things that they're buying are

[1:06:45] for things inside the city. So, there are a couple of things that, you know,

[1:06:51] you could do with that exemption. You could eliminate it, which would then um

[1:06:58] make all of their sales tax. You know, when they make purchases, those sales

[1:07:02] would be taxed and subject to the tax cap. So, if the cap was still $500, then

[1:07:08] the most any one of those things that's going to be charged is $12.50.

[1:07:14] Um, if if we raised it, then it would be

[1:07:18] whatever you guys would raise it to. If they didn't have that, um I would to

[1:07:25] prevent the double tax situation, then if you remove the exemption altogether

[1:07:29] and they just paid tax on all purchases, then you could put an exemption in that

[1:07:34] would exempt their services that they provide in the city from being taxed.

[1:07:38] So, a consumer who hires a contractor to do a remodel would um not pay any tax to

[1:07:46] that remodeler for their service um or the product that's being done. But when

[1:07:53] the contractor goes and buys all those stuff for that project, they're going to

[1:07:57] pay sales tax full price or based on the cap at wherever they're buying all their

[1:08:02] stuff for. And it's just part of the cost of what they're going to be passing

[1:08:06] on to the consumer. and they would not pay any additional tax on that. So

[1:08:10] currently um there's a lot of we don't most of the stuff that's sold

[1:08:17] here is consumed outside the city and not done here but that that is um is

[1:08:23] exempted but I don't know that the contractors are uh completely complying

[1:08:29] with what they're supposed to be reporting and remitting to us and to

[1:08:34] audit that is probably not going to be super lucrative because of the tax cap

[1:08:39] We're only talking about a handful of contractors doing a handful of jobs and

[1:08:42] it's $12.50. So, we can spend a lot of time on compliance, but we're not going

[1:08:47] to spend a lot of time getting revenues from that. So, it would be more, I

[1:08:52] guess, cost pro cost beneficial to exempt having to charge the consumer tax

[1:08:59] and the contractor reporting exemption that and just have them pay the tax, but

[1:09:04] that would be more costly to a contractor to do it that way. So, give

[1:09:09] and take. >> I I mean, the way I'm thinking about

[1:09:12] this is look at the amount of home [snorts]

[1:09:15] builders out here and where do they buy their materials?

[1:09:19] » Pretty much all of it comes from the city. I mean, you talk to our deputy

[1:09:22] administrator and she loves to tell the story about how successful Lowe's is.

[1:09:26] Lowe's was not, >> nobody thought that Lowe's would be as

[1:09:30] successful as it is, but then you realize that we don't serve 10,000

[1:09:34] people. We serve 150,000 people, >> right?

[1:09:38] » And so I I look at it and go $20,000 in cabinets, $50,000 in lumber. You know,

[1:09:46] that's going to start I mean, yes, $12.50,

[1:09:49] but think about how many individual transactions some of these contractors

[1:09:53] are making to put a home together. They're not going to just eat the cost.

[1:09:58] That cost gets passed on uh into the price of the home. Mhm.

[1:10:02] » Um, >> that'd be an interesting one to look at.

[1:10:06] I'll just say that because I I get where you're going for the smaller

[1:10:09] contractors, but when I think I I look at this for the bigger people that are

[1:10:13] that would make the difference between, >> you know, that $12.50 starts adding up

[1:10:18] really really fast. Yeah. >> Uh, for people. So,

[1:10:21] » and just so you know, too, I'm I'm not >> I know you're not advocating either way.

[1:10:25] I'm just putting it out there. Like that's the thought that I go to when I

[1:10:28] look at this and go, "Oh, there's 139 people that have applied for that

[1:10:33] already." Uh, plus the three owner builders. And then you look at the

[1:10:37] wholesalers and the manufacturers because again, they're not wanting to

[1:10:40] pay sales tax on the stuff that they're wholesaling, just basically they're just

[1:10:44] the throughman to get the products along the way. So,

[1:10:47] » uh, just just an interesting uh, bit uh, to look at there. So, thank you.

[1:10:57] Okay. So, we did the travel one. So, also daycare um there we currently do

[1:11:02] not tax any care services in the city. Uh other codes uh local codes do. So,

[1:11:08] another place for for places um looking at things as well as taxi ride shares.

[1:11:15] Uh some do, some don't, but the taxi ride shares we don't currently tax. Uh

[1:11:21] but with the changes we just made last month, your platforms like your Uber and

[1:11:27] your Lyft would then be collecting those taxes. So we have not in the past due to

[1:11:33] difficulties trying to find them and then difficulties trying to collect on

[1:11:37] them. But if we had other mechanisms like those platforms to help us collect,

[1:11:42] then uh that might be a a different conversation or a better outcome for the

[1:11:47] city. And then uh we talked a little bit about

[1:11:50] the narrowing of the medical health healthcare providers. So that's kind of

[1:11:54] the group of tax exemptions that we discussed in the earlier slides. So

[1:11:59] those are the places that I had identified. Like I said, we're not

[1:12:02] necessarily advocating anything, just pointing out

[1:12:05] where there are places that can be changed and uh leaving it to you guys to

[1:12:10] decide what's best. And we're happy to answer questions about that and uh

[1:12:15] discuss it with you further. Um, I've got the statistical information in here

[1:12:19] too to help you guys um, uh, assist in your u, analysis of of the different

[1:12:25] options that we've given you. Um, and we're certainly open to any other, you

[1:12:31] know, suggestions that may have or questions that you have.

[1:12:37] Council member Grant >> Moren, do you know what their

[1:12:42] uh budget expectations were for sales tax for 25 26?

[1:12:48] » Not numbers. >> Yeah, not off the top of my head. I know

[1:12:51] they're they're fairly close to that, but

[1:12:56] I'm sure Wendy probably can get that information for you.

[1:12:59] » Thank you. >> Yes, please.

[1:13:04] » Council member Craftton. Thank you. Uh I just want to say I really appreciate the

[1:13:08] uh presentation here. Um I know uh some of

[1:13:14] these things some of these changes were things I was already looking into. Uh

[1:13:18] like Mr. Johnson had brought up. I mean to give you an example about the

[1:13:22] nonprofits is uh I went down to one here recently and there was a shirt that

[1:13:29] still had the tags on it from the original box store. I happened to own

[1:13:33] that shirt. Not only was the shirt cheaper at the thrift store, but had I

[1:13:39] purchased it there, I wouldn't have paid sales tax on it. And to me, it's like,

[1:13:43] how is that fair, you know? That's that to me, that's a pretty simple change we

[1:13:49] can make, you know, and I like the fact that you're like, hey, let's put the 20

[1:13:52] hours on it so we avoid [snorts] hitting some of these really small

[1:13:56] » um school event, whatever. There there were some there's some very small niches

[1:14:00] in there that there's limits to to put on there. So, I really appreciate uh the

[1:14:06] information here again. And there's more in here than I had thought of, but also

[1:14:10] some things in here that I was like, "Okay, my my thinking is not wrong along

[1:14:14] those lines." So, >> I do appreciate this very very good

[1:14:18] presentation. Thank you, Marines. >> Well, I thank you guys for all your time

[1:14:21] tonight because um I'm happy you're still awake [laughter]

[1:14:25] and with me. Um sometimes when I get going on this stuff, people kind of

[1:14:29] gloss over and they're like, "H." So, um, it's good to have, uh, engagement

[1:14:33] from the council. Is there any other questions or

[1:14:38] » Thank you, Marie. All right. Thank you, guys.

[1:14:42] There are no items scheduled for public hearing this evening. We are now at

[1:14:46] persons to be heard. This is a time for members of the public to share their

[1:14:49] views with the council. Please note that this is not a question and answer

[1:14:53] period. Speakers may be referred to administration and items raised may be

[1:14:57] taken under advisement. Please begin your testimony by stating your first and

[1:15:01] last name. And if you are a city resident, comments are limited to three

[1:15:05] minutes. Concerns.

[1:15:14] [cough]

[1:15:16] » Good evening. My name is Tom Sterns. I'm the senior ambassador for the Wasel Area

[1:15:21] Seniors Incorporated. Um, and I am here to share with you all the great things

[1:15:27] that are happening at Watsi. But the first one is that we're going to be

[1:15:32] closed on the 7th of September. If you can believe it, that's Labor Day. And we

[1:15:38] will be closed. Uh, but after Labor Day, we have some great things that are going

[1:15:45] to be happening. You, I hope, got one of these. That is our uh spring uh our

[1:15:51] dance. Uh it's going to be a 70s and 80s theme. Uh and it's going to be part of

[1:15:59] our fall prevention program. Um and so we're going to teach you how to dance so

[1:16:06] you don't fall. And uh uh and so that's a very good uh good thing to have is uh

[1:16:14] then uh the next thing uh that we have is our uh harvest fundraiser. Okay, we

[1:16:23] had that last year. Uh it was a great success. We're going to have it again

[1:16:28] this year. Uh $50 a plate uh for the u uh for the brunch. Uh and then we'll

[1:16:37] have uh all sorts of um uh things to sell um auction off uh during that time.

[1:16:45] What we need you to do is read the back. Uh and those are the things that we need

[1:16:51] right now. Uh we need uh different uh things that you can uh uh uh donate so

[1:16:58] that we can have things to auction off. Uh especially the folks that make

[1:17:04] things. if you make things uh those would be really good things that we

[1:17:09] could auction off for our raffles. And then the next thing is of course we have

[1:17:16] our lunch sponsorships each month uh four uh $400 for lunch, $500 uh for

[1:17:25] lunch and dessert. Um since we don't do desserts anymore. Um and then the next

[1:17:32] thing is all of you are in the category except uh

[1:17:41] Miss Rubio. Uh uh well maybe not all of you. All right. Some of you are are in

[1:17:48] the category of being a senior and we are looking for three board members. All

[1:17:56] right. and these board members, there are no incumbents. So, uh, if you're

[1:18:02] running, uh, you have a very good chance of winning. Uh, and so we would like to

[1:18:10] encourage any of you that are interested to, uh, get get a hold of our front desk

[1:18:15] and they'll give you all the things you need to know. And then 17 September is

[1:18:21] our next board meeting. Thank you very much.

[1:18:23] » Thank you, Tom. Dan Kennedy.

[1:18:30] » Greetings, Deputy Mayor Rubio. My name is uh Dan Kennedy. My address, 4701

[1:18:36] East Shoreline Circle, Wasillo. I'm a non-resident, but I'm here this evening

[1:18:42] with my wife Janet to uh thank the city. But before I uh

[1:18:49] let you know why we're thanking this city, uh between Janet and myself, we've

[1:18:54] had 82 years as CPAs. And for decades, our CPA office was in the Lake View

[1:19:00] Professional Building on Cruzy Street. And my efforts primarily with the CPA

[1:19:05] firm was economic development for uh some of our largest corporations around

[1:19:12] to emerging businesses. And as past president of the Greater

[1:19:17] Wasola Chamber of Commerce, I've sat at this table to your colleagues before

[1:19:24] you, your predecessors, and went, "Your most valuable asset is the airport. Your

[1:19:30] most valuable asset is the airport." And Janet and I wish to thank the city, your

[1:19:37] predecessors, to the wonderful staff of your [snorts] organization, to our local

[1:19:43] government for all your work on the city airport. Uh we're just thrilled with its

[1:19:50] expansion and we want to uh encourage uh the city to maximize your revenues from

[1:19:59] your most valuable asset. And again on behalf of Janet, myself, we want to

[1:20:03] thank the city so much for all your hard work. There were so many people

[1:20:07] involved. It was a team effort to get the airport moving towards expansion.

[1:20:14] And uh Deputy Mayor, that's all I have tonight. Thank you for allowing us to

[1:20:19] comment. >> Thank you, Dan.

[1:20:23] » We are now at the cons uh consent agenda. Madame Clerk, please read the

[1:20:27] items for approval under the consent agenda by title. Thank you, Madam Deputy

[1:20:31] Mayor. Uh we have one introduction uh uh scheduled public hearing for September

[1:20:35] 14th, 2026, ordinance serial number 2616, amending the fiscal year 2027

[1:20:42] budget by accepting and appropriating and a United States Marshall Service

[1:20:47] short-term joint operation for sex offender compliance verification.

[1:20:52] And I'm wondering if we're missing the word grant. Maybe not. in an amount not

[1:20:57] to exceed $16,275,000.

[1:21:01] We have two resolutions left on the consent agenda. The first is resolution

[1:21:05] serial number 2648 accepting a grant from the state of

[1:21:08] Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, State Emergency

[1:21:13] Operations Center after hours answering point in the amount of $87,410.

[1:21:19] And lastly, resolution serial number 2649 accepting an enhanced 911

[1:21:25] searchcharge revenue DPS call taker grant

[1:21:28] from the Mountus Susetta Burough in the amount of $43,15.

[1:21:34] And I apologize, I'm suffering a cold. >> It's okay. We'll make it through it. Is

[1:21:38] there a motion to approve the consent agenda as read?

[1:21:41] » So moved by Councilman Johnson. >> Is [clears throat] there a second?

[1:21:44] » Seconded amendment. Deputy mayor. It has been moved by council member Johnson and

[1:21:48] seconded by council member Cfton to approve the consent agenda as read. Is

[1:21:52] there any objection to the motion? >> Hearing none, the consent agenda is

[1:21:57] approved. We are now at unfinished business. Madame clerk, please read the

[1:22:01] item by title. >> Council, do you want me do you want to

[1:22:03] take the um resolution we pulled first? >> Sure.

[1:22:06] » Okay. We'll begin with resolution serial number 2647 approving a contract between

[1:22:11] the city of Wasilla and Clear Gov Gravity for 43,9325

[1:22:17] in consideration for financial budgeting software.

[1:22:21] » Is there a motion to approve the resolution number 26-47?

[1:22:26] » Madame Deputy mayor, I move ordinance or resolution serial number 2647.

[1:22:32] » Is there a second? >> I'll second that.

[1:22:36] It has been moved by Council Member Craftton and seconded by Council Member

[1:22:40] Schmidt to approve the resolution number 26-47.

[1:22:46] Is there objection to the motion? >> Discussion or discussion? I'm sorry.

[1:22:53] Deputy Mayor, >> Council Member Craftton.

[1:22:55] » Thank you. Um, I remember I really liked this initially

[1:23:04] and after the presentation I wasn't 100% sold on it. Uh, I'm I'm a little back

[1:23:10] and forth on this one. Um, I'd be curious to hear maybe some

[1:23:16] something from the administration or I mean what the other council members

[1:23:20] would have to say on this one. >> Council member Johnson. Madame Deputy

[1:23:26] Mayor and Council, um, when when I heard about this, I mean,

[1:23:32] the details of it, I I I sort of understood the details of what it is

[1:23:37] that we're trying to to get with this. And I looked at this as, well, it's a

[1:23:44] fairly expensive piece of software and it has all these bells and whistles and

[1:23:48] that it does have some advantages and it's being recommended by the

[1:23:53] administration. So I'm I'm not automatically opposed to it. However,

[1:23:57] when I went through the package and I saw the ongoing costs at 150,000, which

[1:24:03] is basically committing essentially, not exactly, you know,

[1:24:07] about $40,000 a year for continuing software and support costs in it. I'm

[1:24:12] going, what are our options? Are we I mean, it

[1:24:17] looks to me like uh we were presented with this option. I have no other

[1:24:22] options on the table and it's fairly expensive. This isn't a cheap program.

[1:24:27] Um I I guess I would really rather have uh have us come in and look at what some

[1:24:35] other options are rather than just immediately um spending this $44,000

[1:24:42] upfront and then committing another $150,000 beyond that um with no other

[1:24:48] options being laid on the table. So, it's not that I'm against this, but I'd

[1:24:53] like to see more options being presented to us than just this. This is an

[1:24:59] expensive piece of software.

[1:25:05] » Madam Deputy Mayor, does our finance director have anything to add

[1:25:10] to the deputy mayor? Can you >> Okay, go ahead.

[1:25:14] Um so uh I had talked to uh former finance director um Ted Leonard before I

[1:25:22] came here and we had discussed this this program and its capabilities of being

[1:25:28] able to interact with our current finance package the Tyler package. Um

[1:25:33] this package is able to interact be able to update at any time with the current

[1:25:39] package that we have. Um, one of the other pieces, uh, that Ted was very

[1:25:46] excited about is that it would cut down on at least, um, 200 to 240 hours of my

[1:25:55] work. Um, and so what that translated into, um, was that I looked at our

[1:26:03] finance goals. So when I look at those goals,

[1:26:10] I looked at what would those cover, what would those take care of? Because those

[1:26:15] are legislative priorities. So I saw um in goal number two

[1:26:22] it would help complete the enterprise resource system and draw in those

[1:26:27] figures so that we would be able to communicate those effectively with our

[1:26:32] with our republic or with our public. Um it would organize resources and and set

[1:26:39] up a centralized communication channel on our city's official website.

[1:26:46] It would also create and implement a communication and engagement plan to

[1:26:52] strengthen outreach and improve communication tools and networks.

[1:26:58] And so with those in place, there's a little piece that it also does that that

[1:27:06] uh that clear gov does. When I look at clear gov, I see that it can't that it

[1:27:14] continues or it completes all of your grow all your goals one and communicates

[1:27:21] those to the public. Now, it doesn't necessarily complete the 2025 2045

[1:27:28] comprehensive plan, but it will put that out onto our website and communicate

[1:27:34] that to to individuals who may not quite understand what a comprehensive 25 to 45

[1:27:41] plan is. um complete the parks and rec MA master plan. Um putting that out on

[1:27:48] the on the website as well. Um there are so many ways that this program can can

[1:27:56] um can be placed out on on our website and being able to to do what they need

[1:28:03] to do. When I look at further down um implement the airport master plan um by

[1:28:11] marketing efforts, we can use that use this program to do so. Uh as well as

[1:28:19] implementing or um one of the top three goals and is the SDS uh strategy. We can

[1:28:27] put it out to promote that as well. Um, and one of the last ones, improve

[1:28:34] community connections to promote resident well-being and understanding

[1:28:39] our budget and how that impacts them. So then I looked at how the how does this

[1:28:46] free my time up? So most of you know that I I was a city manager. So I I was

[1:28:55] in charge of a city. I can tell you that in my past practice, I did all of goal

[1:29:02] three. If I am freed up to do to do the finance

[1:29:10] part of it and get, you know, get those parts taken care of and be able to

[1:29:16] function with that. I can do all number three for you with

[1:29:20] our department heads. I number four I can get that. All of these can get put

[1:29:27] on the website as well with clear gov. Um, you know, just interacting with our

[1:29:33] departments and getting these individually things done. I've worked

[1:29:37] with our departments for legislation and continue to do so. Um, I don't know that

[1:29:43] Eric was that done before. >> I've been working with Lori. So, that

[1:29:50] was that was also done before. Um, also I did a little experiment. Um, so I went

[1:29:58] to co-pilot and chat GPT and I dropped our budget into it. Um, the 2027 budget

[1:30:06] just to see what we would get out of it. Um, for for those two packages,

[1:30:16] the reading came back that it was too large.

[1:30:20] So when we have people who are asking make make our uh I want to see what's

[1:30:26] important to the city of Osilla but I want to put it into a chat GPT and

[1:30:32] figure that out for me because I don't want to deal with that when they come in

[1:30:37] and they say that that's too large that's not helpful for our budget. So I

[1:30:43] went to another chat BT and did a G a Gemini. I went to Gemini,

[1:30:50] put that in. It said it was too large and asked me to put put the um put the

[1:30:57] URL in. I put the URL in asking for 2027 and got the numbers back and I thought

[1:31:06] that's really funny because I know that the police budget was 9.7

[1:31:14] million, not 9.3. And I look back and Gemini has the last

[1:31:21] year's budget in there. So, we're looking at a pro, you know,

[1:31:26] even though these chat GPTs and all these AIs are great,

[1:31:32] there's still errors in them that people have to still look and catch. And I

[1:31:39] really believe with this project, with this program,

[1:31:44] we can make that happen and we can do these things and get these things done

[1:31:50] on the on the that were part of your fiscal goals that you set.

[1:31:56] » Madame Mayor, a follow-up question, Wendy, I agree with everything you said.

[1:32:00] Okay. That wasn't my question. >> Okay. The question is we're we're

[1:32:05] committing to clear gov which is a software vendor. My son is a software

[1:32:10] provider for a different company who works out of Atlanta. Okay. You are

[1:32:16] asking us to on a single soul source bid buy a piece of software for $44,000

[1:32:24] with I would like to have seen a competitive bid from possibly one or two

[1:32:29] other companies for the exact kind of source software. Now, you might still

[1:32:34] end up with Clear Gov because it might still be the best solution. But I'll

[1:32:38] tell you right now, from my perspective, $44,000 a year is a lot of money to be

[1:32:44] spending in the software on an uncompetitive bid. That's really what I

[1:32:48] would like to see. I would like to see you come back with one or two other

[1:32:52] vendors saying, "These are what the vendors will do. We ranked these vendors

[1:32:56] based on their capability, and we selected Clear Gov." Okay, that's what

[1:33:01] I'd really like to see before you can really sell me on this on this vote.

[1:33:06] It's I agree with everything you say. We need to do all of those things,

[1:33:11] [clears throat] but I feel like we're not being given enough information to

[1:33:15] really make a large commitment like this.

[1:33:21] » Council member Schmidt, >> just a quick question uh follow up on

[1:33:26] that. Did you use um this program at the small town that you come from?

[1:33:32] » We did not. We were we were too small. Our budget was only 10 million.

[1:33:37] [laughter] We did not use that.

[1:33:42] » Have you um experienced any other programs or did you just manually do it

[1:33:46] all with the programs that you had? I what I did is I went on the Matsu burrow

[1:33:52] and used their program and asked some really convoluted questions and didn't

[1:33:58] think it would be able to pull out what I was in, you know, what I was trying to

[1:34:04] get out of it and and I was able to pull that information.

[1:34:09] Okay. >> Council member Codle, do you have any

[1:34:13] questions? Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. Um, I did

[1:34:18] a lot of research into this program and being someone who's been in accounting

[1:34:24] and finance for years, this program to me check the boxes and um, I'm in favor

[1:34:32] of going ahead with this because it does what we're looking for it to do and it

[1:34:37] will be um, I think a time-saving tool for us and it will in the long run have

[1:34:45] a lot less human error because we're not having to pull information and put it

[1:34:50] back into numerous places where this program will put it all in there. So,

[1:34:55] I'm in favor of that. >> Thank you, Council Member Graham.

[1:35:00] » Thank you. So, Wendy, I'm looking at the page 20 of the Clear Gov software

[1:35:07] proposal, which I think is attachment A to this

[1:35:11] um ordinance that we have before us. But

[1:35:16] essentially it says uh you know 9 months prorated cost was about $30,000.

[1:35:23] Uh you know so uh 12 months would be you know about what you see down below when

[1:35:31] it talks about what we would owe in July of 2027 which is you know $40,000. Then

[1:35:36] it goes up 5% a year. Is that 5% increment? Is that pretty standard with

[1:35:44] » with, you know, software renewals and things like that? I mean, at this point,

[1:35:48] I mean, we've we've already kind of sunk a bunch of money into

[1:35:52] uh, you know, the setup of this trying to figure out if it's going to do what

[1:35:56] it's going to do. But, but I mean, is that 5% a year? Is that is that a normal

[1:36:01] escalation factor, you think, or >> it is postco?

[1:36:06] I would say yes. >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:36:10] because people are really it used to be two to 3% but now that people or

[1:36:17] companies have experienced COVID they do 5% just

[1:36:22] in case

[1:36:27] » Wendy I do have a question for you >> um I am in favor of this program but

[1:36:32] does your department plan on implementing this software for this

[1:36:36] coming budget >> yes

[1:36:38] » so the time lead on that is Good. >> Yes.

[1:36:41] » Okay.

[1:36:45] » Council member Graham. >> Thank you. And uh I I too am in favor of

[1:36:50] this proposal here. You know, Cleargov is one of those organizations

[1:36:56] uh that goes to the Alaska Municipal League uh annual conferences every year

[1:37:00] and gives us plenty of time to talk to them and talk to their competitors or I

[1:37:06] wouldn't even say competitors, but people offering similar solutions, you

[1:37:11] know, and and each of those solutions is uniquely different. uh and I think

[1:37:16] that's why we have a soul source contract here because we're looking for

[1:37:19] a specific solution with you know specific results here and so while I'm

[1:37:25] not a big believer in soul source contracts in this case uh you know to

[1:37:30] get uh you know exactly what we're looking for as close to what we're

[1:37:34] looking for as possible I think soul sources is the only way to go so I'm in

[1:37:39] favor of this uh u action here tonight >> council Member Craftton.

[1:37:45] » Thank you, Madam Deput. Uh, I guess just kind of a blunt question. Do you believe

[1:37:49] this would be the best option at the best price that we have available for

[1:37:52] us? >> I believe so.

[1:37:55] » Can I say yes? >> Is there further discussion?

[1:38:01] Is there objection to the motion? >> Yes.

[1:38:05] » Roll call vote. >> Council, this is on the adoption of

[1:38:09] resolution serial number 2647. Council member Codle, we'll start with

[1:38:14] you. Yes.

[1:38:16] » Council member Graham. >> Yes.

[1:38:18] » Council member Schmidt. >> Yes.

[1:38:20] » Council member Craftton. >> Yes.

[1:38:21] » Council member Johnson. >> No.

[1:38:23] » Uh Deputy Mayor Rubio. >> Yes.

[1:38:25] » The motion to adopt resolution serial number 2647 passes with council members

[1:38:30] Codle, Graham, Schmidt, Craftton, and Rubio in support. Council member Johnson

[1:38:34] opposed.

[1:38:38] » Okay. Next resolution is resolution serial

[1:38:41] number 2646 approving priority transportation projects for nomination

[1:38:46] to the Matsu Valley Planning for Transportation 2027 through 2030

[1:38:52] transportation improvement program affirming the city's commitment to

[1:38:55] provide the required non-federal share for projects selected for federal

[1:39:00] funding and authorizing their submittal to the MVP.

[1:39:03] » Madam Deputy Mayor, can we take a fiveminute recess before we dive into

[1:39:06] this one? Yes. So, it's 7:39. So, we will be back

[1:39:12] at 7:44. [clears throat]

[1:39:21] » Sorry. [laughter] >> I'm not worried.

[1:45:34] discussion. >> Mayor's gone.

[1:45:38] » We're back on the record at 7:45. Is there discussion?

[1:45:42] » Madam Deputy Mayor, >> Council Member Craftton,

[1:45:45] » thank you. Um, appreciate the council for giving us a

[1:45:49] little bit more time to to look this over. Uh, I had spoken with a a

[1:45:58] » We're back on the record at 7:45. Is there discussion?

[1:46:05] » Uh, I'd asked the attorney just one question. And I had two two concerns

[1:46:09] with this, but the big one I wanted to ask was just a clarifying point around

[1:46:12] some of the whereas clauses because part of the way it reads is that it sounds

[1:46:17] like we're being bound uh to certain dollar amounts because

[1:46:23] we're saying, "Hey, we're going to commit these projects and these projects

[1:46:27] come with a cost and so we're going to we're going to be putting forward those

[1:46:31] dollars." And so I just wanted to clarify with the attorney that's not the

[1:46:35] case because that's not possible. >> Yeah. No, it's it's not binding. And

[1:46:38] there's two reasons. And one, I'm glad you asked me before the meeting so I

[1:46:42] could, you know, look through and process this, but um with the Matsu uh

[1:46:48] planning uh group here, it's not binding in itself. This is just

[1:46:54] saying this is a priority. We have an idea it's going to cost

[1:46:58] around this and there's going to be a contribution.

[1:47:03] But these are just estimates whenever it gets and gets federally funded, those

[1:47:08] numbers are likely to change. Then you have to go through the whole contracting

[1:47:12] process and approve contracts as it goes along. This is just kind of saying we're

[1:47:17] going through this with the the knowledge we may have to pay that

[1:47:20] portion. I don't know whether that's required under the federal law or that's

[1:47:24] just strictly the Matt Sue requirement. So no one can come in and say, "Oh yeah,

[1:47:29] we wanted that really big project, but now that you tell us we have to pay part

[1:47:33] of it, we're not interested." Um second part of it is in the whereas

[1:47:39] clause it's certainly not my whereas is just saying this is conditions today

[1:47:44] whereas crime is out of control I'm binding you the crime will stay out of

[1:47:48] control it's just saying this is why we are doing this and um if the feds were

[1:47:55] to change it and not require any kind of matching funds you're not obligated to

[1:48:00] it either at that point. So, it's it's just really kind of um

[1:48:06] city's acknowledging it knows that this project [clears throat] goes ahead, it's

[1:48:09] going to have to be looking for funding for project as the rules stand today in

[1:48:14] warehouse clause. >> Thank you. Uh another question I have uh

[1:48:20] not to the attorney here, but just um I I really like a lot of these projects.

[1:48:26] Uh, I really only have one project that's a bit concerned on moving forward

[1:48:31] and I know we've got uh I'm sorry I forgot your name.

[1:48:36] » Kim. >> Kim here. Uh, could we have her come

[1:48:40] forward? I'm I'm just curious about project what would be considered ID

[1:48:44] number 19. It's the Seward Meridian Parkway to Sun Mountain connection.

[1:48:48] Could we have somebody speak to what it would

[1:48:52] look like if we have if we move forward a project like this that that has no

[1:48:57] platted ride of the bike, especially because it's a high priority. There's

[1:49:00] another one on here, but it's down the road. So, I mean, that one can

[1:49:03] completely change, but we're we're committing to trying to move forward a

[1:49:08] project that has no right of way right now, which it it to me is con

[1:49:13] concerning.

[1:49:18] Uh yeah through deputy mayor um Rubio I can answer that. So the idea like we

[1:49:24] talked about the last meeting was the um extreme impact that the alpine

[1:49:30] connection at parks and sun mountain has for um safety concerns. So the idea

[1:49:37] would be to find a rideway that works with all of the land owners at the end

[1:49:42] of Sun Mountain. It could be multiple things. It could be um using uh

[1:49:48] purchasing some land from either one of the property owners at the end of the

[1:49:52] culde-sac and getting down to super marine. It could be buying a home in

[1:49:56] Whispering Woods neighborhood and making a thoroughfare into the Whispering Woods

[1:50:00] neighborhood. There needs to be some sort of uh connection between Sun

[1:50:06] Mountain and another thoroughfare that allows for a safe transition if people

[1:50:12] are trying to go uh left or or inbound on the parks. And so the ultimate

[1:50:19] alignment doesn't exist right now, of course, because it all of the options

[1:50:23] need to be evaluated. But the request needed a line on a map, so we drew one.

[1:50:29] But the ultimate way to uh mitigate some of those major safety concerns is to

[1:50:36] give people a safe and convenient way so that they don't choose unsafe turning

[1:50:40] movements to get uh back onto the parks to go inbound to Anchorage. So this

[1:50:46] project would allow for the initial planning and then uh moving into the

[1:50:52] design to make that connection to reduce those accidentprone intersections.

[1:50:58] Council

[1:51:03] member Graham. >> Thank you. So, I'm looking at the last

[1:51:09] paragraph on page 121 here. Says MVP has requested that each member jurisdiction

[1:51:15] adopt a resolution formally nominating its priority projects.

[1:51:23] Where how did these become priority projects? This is the first time we as a

[1:51:28] city council have heard of some of these projects. So, how did this how did these

[1:51:32] become priority projects out of that list of projects that we saw 30 or 40

[1:51:39] deep? How did these become the city's priority projects?

[1:51:45] I mean, is is this just a list that the mayor and Eric came up with? What where

[1:51:52] what makes these priority projects? because some of these look pretty milk

[1:51:55] coast to me. I mean, they're

[1:51:59] » um hi uh Kim Solian, executive director of Mats Valley Planning for

[1:52:03] Transportation. I'll answer a portion of that question and then I'll defer to

[1:52:08] Eric. Um so, as a metropolitan planning organization, we're supposed to create a

[1:52:14] process um by which local governments can um apply for projects. Those

[1:52:21] projects need to be evaluated on a metrics that looks at, you know, we

[1:52:27] established goals uh for our long range plan and then we establish criteria um

[1:52:32] to evaluate projects on whether or not they would help us meet the goals that

[1:52:37] we established for the long range plan. And so once we figured that piece out,

[1:52:43] after we assessed the transportation network and identified deficiencies um

[1:52:48] and needs um we did a call for projects. So if you remember, I was here in

[1:52:53] January and let you know that we were issuing our formal call for projects.

[1:52:57] There would be a 30-day um nomination window and that we were requesting local

[1:53:02] jurisdictions apply for projects. So I let you all know about that process. it

[1:53:07] was on our website and it had um the project nomination form and then during

[1:53:13] that 30 way day window um the city of Palmer the Matsubo and the city of

[1:53:18] Wasilla did nominate uh a number of projects and I will pause there I guess

[1:53:24] I'll say one more thing so once we received [snorts] all of the

[1:53:26] [clears throat] nominations we vetted each project to make sure they were

[1:53:29] eligible for federal funding and then we went about applying the scoring criteria

[1:53:35] to each project and and then assigning a score to each project and then that's

[1:53:39] what the numeric order is that you see um in your resolution in terms of what

[1:53:45] score each project received. >> Yeah. And I understand that process and

[1:53:52] but I'm just curious how did these become our

[1:53:56] when I say our I mean the city of Wasilla's priority projects. I mean, one

[1:54:01] of these projects here is to build a sidewalk

[1:54:04] uh from a senior community to collect to connect, you know, uh to a bike path,

[1:54:10] which is rarely used. I I I I'm just kind of curious, how did how

[1:54:16] did these things become priority projects?

[1:54:19] » Thank you. Through the deputy mayor. Um so knowing what the um scoring criteria

[1:54:25] were for the MP MVP's review and looking at the needs as we received from public

[1:54:30] comments and from known projects. We balanced what we thought would be

[1:54:36] eligible through that program versus our larger list of needs that we know about

[1:54:41] from repaving to um completing projects. We knew that the uh pedestrian

[1:54:48] connections would um um compete very well numerically as we

[1:54:54] saw we had the number one place because of that. Um if you recall the so the

[1:54:58] Elorn project that you're talking about that came directly out of public

[1:55:01] comments from Mr. Don Shishel that came in and talked about that. He'd also

[1:55:05] called and some other neighborhood members called. So these projects that

[1:55:09] were brought to us communitywise played well into the numbers. And then the

[1:55:14] long-term ones that we talked about with um the connection to the um Sun Mountain

[1:55:20] to Steuart Meridian, that's been a long-standing issue that we've been uh

[1:55:24] coordinating with the burrow on and then the police department with a number of

[1:55:28] accidents. And then um as we've gone through the uh railroad relationships

[1:55:34] with like Snyder Crossing and then some other um known gaps in our

[1:55:39] infrastructure um that's where the uh what are we calling it? The railroad

[1:55:44] avenue to um oh I forget the name of the other street

[1:55:50] that the fourth project that's on the list. those came from being uh long-term

[1:55:54] plans that we needed help with and then the short-term uh pedestrian um uh

[1:56:00] connections. So, in general, I built the list, vetted it through the mayor, and

[1:56:05] picked the ones that would compete well numerically, and that's how the list

[1:56:09] came out this round. Now, one of the things that we've been working through

[1:56:13] with the MO is um the burough assembly has echoed some of the concerns you've

[1:56:19] had where they didn't feel like they had an opportunity to to review the list

[1:56:24] either. And so, at the technical committee and the policy board meeting,

[1:56:28] we talked about that. And there's going to be some tweaks on the timeline so

[1:56:32] that um elected officials such as yourself see a more official review

[1:56:37] before the resolutions of support are asked for. And maybe Kim, you could talk

[1:56:41] a little bit about kind of the feedback we've gotten at the last couple

[1:56:44] meetings. >> Yeah, absolutely. Um, we did hear like

[1:56:48] Eric said from um, you know, Matt Subaro's staff that when I presented

[1:56:53] this same presentation to the assembly that some of the assembly members had

[1:56:57] never seen the list before. So moving forward, we are going to develop a

[1:57:01] policy um that requires prior to project nomination in the future that um local

[1:57:08] uh city councils and the Matsubber Assembly have a chance to review what

[1:57:12] staff are recommending to move forward and have a process so that when projects

[1:57:16] are nominated um it has already gone through an initial review um from the

[1:57:22] local governing bodies. Um, and that's just one of the things we're going to

[1:57:27] put in place to help prevent a s any surprises when we get to this phase

[1:57:32] because where we are now as we in order to program our tip and decide where the

[1:57:39] funding is going to go, we need that approval from the local government. Um,

[1:57:42] so we need to document that there is um the that the projects are being formally

[1:57:48] nominated by the local jurisdiction in our TIP. that's one of the federal

[1:57:51] requirements and that we can show that there's um the the funds are reasonably

[1:57:56] available. So that's the two things that your resolution is doing. Say we ad we

[1:58:01] agree that these are the projects that we would like to nominate and um if the

[1:58:06] project is selected for funding that we'll commit the match. So that's part

[1:58:09] of our documentation to federal highways.

[1:58:12] » Council member Graham. >> Thanks. So,

[1:58:16] you know, the the committing to the federal match, uh, you know, is not

[1:58:21] something the administration could do. It's something that the council has to

[1:58:25] provide funding for. So, in future, you know, and this is a fiveyear project,

[1:58:30] three year, four-year project. So, you know, future council may say, you know,

[1:58:35] I don't want to spend $500,000 on this project. We need to spend $500,000

[1:58:41] on a different project. And so the council may say, "No, we're not going to

[1:58:46] we're not going to do that project." And how does that affect the process?

[1:58:51] » That's a great question. Sorry, I forgot my protocol. Through the deputy mayor to

[1:58:55] council member Graham. Um so projects have either a four or a six-year

[1:59:01] lifespan. Um with some exceptions. So, one of the jobs that staff have is to

[1:59:08] figure out with our limited funding. Um, we'll have about $7 million a year to to

[1:59:14] program. We'll have to decide which projects go first, second, third, and

[1:59:19] when their start year happens and when their construction year happens. So if

[1:59:25] we program some of the city of Wasilla's projects in the first year, um very soon

[1:59:32] some probably early you know January, February, March, the DOT will come

[1:59:36] forward and be looking to work with you on match and maintenance agreements. So

[1:59:41] what if that number one project is going forward you whoever the body is at that

[1:59:46] time will be committing to paying the match and maintaining the project over

[1:59:52] its lifespan. Um, if at that time you decide we don't want to do that project,

[1:59:58] then you would say that and then we would amend our tip and remove that

[2:00:03] project. It would no longer be eligible for funding. So, we anticipate having to

[2:00:08] update our tip probably annually, maybe a couple times a year, hopefully not to

[2:00:13] remove the projects that some that have been prioritized, but that is certainly

[2:00:18] how we would handle that. And so the overall amount that $7

[2:00:23] million a year would remain unchanged. It's just [clears throat] up to the

[2:00:27] board to figure out what new priorities would be with the project if it's not

[2:00:33] approved by the local governing body. >> So if um so the federal highway funding

[2:00:41] bill does change every four years and we don't have a new one yet. So we could

[2:00:47] get more funding, but seven million is what we're working with now and that's

[2:00:49] what we're using to program um our current TIP. So if we program our TIP

[2:00:55] and let's say two of the city of Wasilla projects go forward um and they are

[2:01:00] proposing to start in year one and be constructed in year four, we would be

[2:01:05] having that conversation this coming year about your commitment. And then if

[2:01:11] another one of your projects is going forward in year three and construction

[2:01:15] wouldn't start until the future tip, we'd be having that conversation in year

[2:01:20] three. So you will get another um bite at the apple, so to speak, to affirm

[2:01:25] that you do want to move forward this project. But our assumption is if you're

[2:01:29] putting the projects in your resolution, um that's giving us the go-ahad to

[2:01:33] program that tip. and when we come back or when the DOT comes back to you for um

[2:01:38] those match and maintenance agreements, you've committed to that. But we there

[2:01:42] is an escape clause um if the future council decides they need that.

[2:01:47] I will say once you start once we start spending federal money, [clears throat]

[2:01:53] if you change your mind and decide you no longer want to do the project, you

[2:01:56] will have to pay the money back. So that's

[2:02:02] » so two uh

[2:02:05] follow-ups on that. So at the last meeting I had asked for something kind

[2:02:10] of showing what these projects were and I got for tonight's meeting I got the

[2:02:15] same map that we got at the last time we talked about this. Is there a website

[2:02:19] that shows the conceptual plan for this? I mean how many feet of sidewalk are we

[2:02:24] building? How many where exactly is that sidewalk going to go? What right away

[2:02:29] are we concerned about? I mean, not, you know, I don't want to see an eight

[2:02:34] page, you know, a blueprint of what's going on here, but I would like to know

[2:02:39] where these things are going. What is the proposed route, you know, to get uh,

[2:02:44] you know, the project that we were talking about, the sewer meridian

[2:02:46] project, what where is this Elhorn sidewalk going? Those sorts of things.

[2:02:52] Is there a website that I can look at? I know with DOT projects, I can go and

[2:02:57] look at the DOT, you know, couplet project and shows me all sorts of stuff

[2:03:01] and has for years. I mean, is there a similar

[2:03:05] method uh for getting into these uh MVP projects?

[2:03:10] » That's a great question through the um deputy mayor to council member Graham.

[2:03:14] Not yet because the projects aren't official projects. So once the tip gets

[2:03:20] programmed and the tip gets approved um the DOT has a multi-phase process to

[2:03:26] developing a project and the first phase is doing that um the environmental

[2:03:31] review right away research and acquisition phase and documentation um

[2:03:37] uh the planning level design and then um once they get that those pieces updated

[2:03:45] then you will have that fuller picture of what the project is, where is the

[2:03:49] exact alignment, what the what the cost is proposed to be. Um, so that's part of

[2:03:56] the first phase of project development. So because these projects were just

[2:04:01] nominated to us, we took the information that was provided by the nominators and

[2:04:07] then DOT used that information to develop uh planning level cost estimates

[2:04:12] to give you a rough amount of what we think the project will cost and what the

[2:04:15] match will be. that those other details about exact design, how much rideway,

[2:04:20] where the sidewalk is would come um during that first phase of the project.

[2:04:26] » Council member Graham, can you hold your thought just for a second? Um Council

[2:04:30] Member Codle, are you on? >> Yes, Deputy Mayor, I'm on.

[2:04:34] » Do you have any questions? >> Uh no, I don't at this time. Thank you.

[2:04:39] » Okay, thank you. Go ahead, Council Member Graham.

[2:04:42] » So, this I think comes back to what Mr. Craftton was talking about. So we

[2:04:47] approve these projects tonight. We say put these on the list. And then DOT

[2:04:51] comes forward or whomever comes forward and says, "All right, let's start

[2:04:55] planning this." And they start planning this projects. And we look at each other

[2:04:59] and go, "There is no way in hell we're going to sign up for that project." So

[2:05:04] at that point, we're committed to paying

[2:05:08] the federal government back for the money that DOT has spent on the planning

[2:05:13] process. even though we didn't know what the

[2:05:15] project was to begin with.

[2:05:19] » I don't know if you have So,

[2:05:24] back me up if you can, Eric. So,

[2:05:30] I think the short answer is yes. Like, we have to go through the planning

[2:05:36] process to document all the details of the project. Like I think each of the

[2:05:41] projects has a description. I'm sure um Eric could provide we could provide you

[2:05:46] the applications that they submitted that were very detailed with the

[2:05:50] information that they have now. But project development research happens

[2:05:54] with every single project. So the difference is you're being a you're

[2:05:59] using 90% of federal funds to do that instead

[2:06:04] of 100% of your own funds. And so, um, I don't know.

[2:06:11] » So, the short answer is yes, we would be on the hook for

[2:06:13] » paying the paying the federal funds that get spent on that, um, phase one of the

[2:06:18] project. Um, yes, that's a federal requirement.

[2:06:23] » Council member Craftton, >> thank you. Um,

[2:06:28] I think that kind of justifies some of my point here. So, there there's a

[2:06:31] couple things I have. Um, again, I'm going to go back to kind of

[2:06:35] what Mr. Graham's saying here is by nominating these projects, we're almost

[2:06:40] committing these dollars upfront. I I I mean, if if federal dollars are going to

[2:06:45] be spent, um, then and because a lot of it's the design phase, they're be

[2:06:51] they're the the biggest part is once they get to a design phase, then we're

[2:06:56] committing. And I can understand that maybe before they even get to the design

[2:07:00] phase, they're going to come to us and say, "Hey, this is the project we're

[2:07:04] going to start working on next, we're going to get into the design phase. We

[2:07:07] need to know that there's a commitment from the council before we start

[2:07:10] expending dollars on it." I'd assume that's going to hopefully happen happen

[2:07:14] first. But when we submit that list, the list

[2:07:18] should be a list of projects that we we know we can stand by. and project 19

[2:07:24] here, the Seward Meridian to Sun Sun Mountain one is I don't think one we can

[2:07:27] stand by because when we look at already what's happening in this corridor,

[2:07:31] there's two other projects that should address a lot of the concerns that have

[2:07:34] already been brought up about this this connection here. And one of that is the

[2:07:40] the redesign of the median down uh the middle turn lane and then the other one

[2:07:46] is the hopefully the Herman road and help with the efficiency of traffic flow

[2:07:51] uh through both of these areas here. And so I'm just I'm really struggling

[2:07:57] committing to knowing that this project's going to be done because I

[2:08:00] mean I've I've looked at a map. There's two property owners that you would have

[2:08:04] to go through to get this road, Sun Mountain, connected to Sewart Meridian,

[2:08:11] and one of those property owners, it's a very large chunk of their property. I

[2:08:15] I'm just not seeing a feasible way that that we could achieve it at this time. I

[2:08:20] mean, to me, it's too early to try and nominate a project like this to go

[2:08:24] forward. So with that, madame deputy mayor, I move that we strike project ID

[2:08:30] 19, which is project name South Seward Meridian Parkway to East Sun Mountain

[2:08:36] Avenue connection project uh from the resolution. Uh which actually, excuse

[2:08:41] me, we'd be striking it from exhibit A. >> Is there a second?

[2:08:50] » Graham seconds.

[2:08:54] You want to read that back in another direction?

[2:08:55] » Sure. >> It's been moved by council member Krep

[2:08:57] and seconded by council member Graham to strike from exhibit A project number 19

[2:09:02] which is a South Seward Meridian Parkway to East Sun Mountain Avenue connection

[2:09:06] project. >> Madam Deputy Mayor,

[2:09:10] » Council Member Craft. >> Thank you. Just to finish speaking my

[2:09:13] motion here again. I think it's too big of a project too soon. Um, as I

[2:09:18] mentioned, uh, the state is in the design phase for a middle turn lane

[2:09:23] adjustment, um, on the parks highway right now. Um, which one of the biggest

[2:09:28] concerns is getting the lefthand turn lane off Sun Mountain, which is

[2:09:31] technically I think it's Alpine and their auxiliary connections to the parks

[2:09:35] highway. Um and essentially it's that corridor is about to go through a major

[2:09:41] redirectioning with that project and compl coup coup coupling with the Herman

[2:09:45] road extension that's happening as well. So I I think at one point in time yes

[2:09:51] the sewer meridian would have been a great idea to to connect through. I

[2:09:54] think there was even intentions to connect it down to Seward Meridian and

[2:09:58] put a roundabout there to connect the blue I think it's the blue loop pine

[2:10:01] frontage road um and just that whole area start putting in some roundabouts

[2:10:05] make things a little bit more interconnected there but at this time I

[2:10:08] think it's not a project in the next four years it should be a project in the

[2:10:12] in a further I think six plus year time r time frame at this time

[2:10:20] » we're gonna Eric did you want to talk >> yeah I just wanted

[2:10:24] comment on the two projects that Mr. Craftman talked about. Um, I'm

[2:10:26] intimately familiar with both of them and while they're important, they're not

[2:10:30] the panacea to the problems there and we're going to continue to have extreme

[2:10:34] safety issues even after those projects are figured out because of the number of

[2:10:39] uh people that use that area and the traffic alignment. So, I I understand

[2:10:44] what Mr. Craftton is saying is concerned about rightway. Um, I guess I just want

[2:10:48] to caution the council that as we enter the world of being part of the MO, there

[2:10:53] are going to be significant projects that have to be decided on. And these

[2:10:57] are these are um decadel long thought processes that have to happen. They're

[2:11:04] not little small um road extensions. Herman Road is a teeny project compared

[2:11:09] to what the rest of the MO projects are going to be. And while this is a huge

[2:11:13] project for the city of Wasilla, it is um small on the side of MOized projects.

[2:11:19] So um I would ask the council as we go forward in the years on on interacting

[2:11:24] with the MO um the projects that are going to come before you are going to be

[2:11:29] drastic because of how far behind we are in safe transportation projects in the

[2:11:35] valley. Um we we know how many people died on KGB when uh Governor Walker

[2:11:41] stopped the project before um Dunley started it again. We're talking about

[2:11:46] multiple people dying each year on different roads because of how far we

[2:11:50] are behind in safe transportation corridors. So these are going to be

[2:11:55] really important and they're going to touch major um improvements. They're

[2:11:58] going to have new rideway that has to be purchased. They're going to have

[2:12:01] detailed traffic studies. They're not going to be done in little myopic

[2:12:06] projects anymore. They're going to be very big with um all of the standard

[2:12:11] transportation design that's required for federal projects. So very well

[2:12:15] vetted, very public facing, but also they're going to be of a new caliber

[2:12:20] that we haven't had to [snorts] deal with before. We've waited for the um

[2:12:24] couplet project for 15 years, right? So that is a great example of a project

[2:12:29] that took far far far too long. Our whole downtown has not been redeveloped

[2:12:33] because property owners have been waiting for a decade too long to have a

[2:12:37] project completed. The MO exists so that doesn't happen anymore. That project did

[2:12:42] not go anywhere because the MO didn't exist to push these long-awaited

[2:12:47] projects and make major safety improvements. So, um I appreciate if Mr.

[2:12:52] Craftton wants to wait on this. We we have three other projects that we

[2:12:56] desperately need, but this is going to be a new relationship to transportation

[2:13:01] projects on LSU.

[2:13:05] » Council member Graham, >> thank you. Just for clarification,

[2:13:11] uh Eric, you said you'd appreciate if Mr. Craftton wanted to wait on that. Are

[2:13:14] you asking him to change his motion or what?

[2:13:17] » No, what did that what did that statement mean? I I understand that um

[2:13:22] it feels too drastic. I think that that connection's going to have to happen. Uh

[2:13:27] whether Herman Road is complete in the next three years and whenever the uh

[2:13:32] Parks Highway turn lane project happens, they they don't they don't negate what

[2:13:38] needs to happen with that corridor for safety.

[2:13:40] » Okay. Thank you. And then my question uh madame deputy mayor or actually a

[2:13:46] comment madam deputy mayor is has to do with exactly what Kim was talking about

[2:13:52] exactly what Eric was talking about and exactly what Ian was talking about. So

[2:13:56] we look at project 19 which is the one that we're looking at now. You know

[2:14:00] total cost estimate uh of $6.5 million. Okay. [snorts] I would be willing to bet

[2:14:09] that $4 million of that money will be spent before any utility is moved or

[2:14:16] before any shovel of dirt is turned. And what Kim has told us is if we get to

[2:14:24] that point on what is now a pie in the sky totally unknown project, well, we're

[2:14:29] on the hook for $4 million and for which we get nothing and for which we have had

[2:14:35] no say in because we haven't seen anything on this. So, I'm going to stand

[2:14:40] with council member Craftton on this and and vote to strike project ID19. May I

[2:14:48] maybe with the attorney? That's not what this resolution says.

[2:14:54] » So,

[2:14:57] you know, >> what's the motion on the floor? The

[2:15:01] motion on the floor is to strike, >> but this resolution does not say you're

[2:15:05] on the hook. So, if you are on the hook, probably moving forward, we need to

[2:15:11] change the verbiage in the resolution. >> Just throwing it out there. I I I see

[2:15:16] where uh Madam Clerk, you're you're trying to say like like I said, what

[2:15:21] should come before us? The next thing like we approved this tonight. The next

[2:15:25] thing that should come before us theoretically is is a resolution from

[2:15:29] the administration. Uh because Kim has said, "Hey, we've got the federal

[2:15:33] funding. Uh the dollars are coming down and project number one, we have the

[2:15:37] number one project." They want to start the design process. council, we need to

[2:15:42] know you have a buy in and that you're willing to because they want to start

[2:15:45] spending money, but we have to know that you're going to be willing to commit to

[2:15:48] these dollars before they start spending the money. That's my understanding as to

[2:15:53] more or less what should be be happening next.

[2:15:56] But I think what the bigger picture I look at is is it it tends to be how the

[2:16:02] council and the administration operate as a whole. when things are put before

[2:16:06] us in this fashion, people go, "Oh, well, we already agreed to doing this,

[2:16:10] so we're just going to do it." And to me, that's the bigger concern is that

[2:16:16] just because the projects before us doesn't mean we should do it. And what

[2:16:21] it goes a step further into for me is our roads master plan. We're 20 years, I

[2:16:28] think 20, 19 years out of date on a roads master plan. We have roads that

[2:16:32] were that were projected to be built that still haven't been built to this

[2:16:35] day and now won't be able to be built. And these projects have come like uh

[2:16:42] Eric said from basically just a list of things that needed to be done that were

[2:16:46] really important. But the next time that this list comes forward, it's going to

[2:16:49] be based on a list of projects that the roads master plan has already told us

[2:16:53] that probably need to be done. And we're going to look through it and go, "Yeah,

[2:16:56] we don't care about this one. We do care about this one. Uh this one can wait a

[2:16:59] little bit longer." But and so that's really where the formulation's going to

[2:17:03] come. But I think what we need to be looking at now is the fact that what we

[2:17:08] put forward we're willing to commit those dollars to because there's a good

[2:17:11] chance that whether it's us sitting here or somebody else sitting here that

[2:17:14] they're going to be committing those dollars to it. So I want to make sure

[2:17:16] that that's what what we're going to be working towards

[2:17:22] » through the mayor to speak towards the next um step in the process. If this

[2:17:26] passes tonight, there will be a reimburseable agreement that comes in

[2:17:30] front of the council to codify with the state what the funding agreement is. So

[2:17:35] that'll be the next opportunity for uh a go or no go vote. There's no monies

[2:17:42] promised in this resolution. It's just it kind of speaks to a larger idea. When

[2:17:47] we go and apply for grants, they're going to say, "Well, you need to have

[2:17:50] some match." we go and apply for grants without council approval because the

[2:17:55] mayor is the city manager and says go apply for the grant but we also want to

[2:17:59] know that there's support moving forward. So this you know as we talked

[2:18:02] about what's going to change the next time we see this with more initial

[2:18:06] outreach with uh elected bodies um we still do go out for grants and then and

[2:18:12] then ask the council's approval and grants have been um not approved for

[2:18:16] that same reason. So, this is really just a grant application and then we'll

[2:18:20] be back to talk about um funding if we're selected.

[2:18:28] » Is there further discussion?

[2:18:33] Is there objection to the motion? >> Amendment.

[2:18:38] » What's that? >> We're on the amendment.

[2:18:40] » Oh, we're still on the amendment. Yeah. Is there objection to the motion? Yeah.

[2:18:44] » Madam Deputy Mayor, I object. I object.

[2:18:48] » Okay. Wolf. Okay. >> Thank you. And this is on um amend what

[2:18:52] I'm going to call amendment number one. And this is the proposal is to strike

[2:18:55] the motion was to strike project number 19 from exhibit A. Council member

[2:19:00] Graham. >> Yes.

[2:19:02] » Yes. To strike it. Council member Schmidt.

[2:19:05] » No. >> Council member Craftton.

[2:19:08] » Yes. >> Council member Johnson.

[2:19:11] » No. >> Council member Rubio.

[2:19:14] » No. Council member Codle. >> No.

[2:19:18] » Amendment number one fails with council members Graham and Craftton in favor.

[2:19:23] Council members Codle, Schmidt, Johnson, and Rubio opposed.

[2:19:29] » So now we are back to the >> to the main motion which is to adopt

[2:19:32] resolution serial number 2646 as presented.

[2:19:38] » Madam Deputy Mayor, >> Council Member Craft.

[2:19:41] » Thank you. Uh I won't be supporting this. Um, I think we're committing the

[2:19:45] city to too much. I mean, what you're looking at now is, uh, especially

[2:19:51] project number 19 was heavily based on right of way. And

[2:20:00] I mean, the only step forward would be to say, hey, we want to enter design. We

[2:20:06] say yes. They start designing. We've committed dollars. We can't get right

[2:20:10] away. The only option is em eminent domain at that point. I mean, you're

[2:20:14] committing the the city to a lot of money when to a project that has no

[2:20:18] plotted right of way. So, I'm a no vote on this entire project.

[2:20:23] » Council member Johnson. >> Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor.

[2:20:27] [clears throat] So from what I understand from this,

[2:20:31] if we do not approve this at this particular point,

[2:20:38] basically we stand to lose um

[2:20:44] any federal money basically for these projects because of the time frame that

[2:20:51] we've got. From what I understood from your conversation is we either move

[2:20:56] forward by September or we can kiss most of our federal money by

[2:21:02] » um >> now is that pretty much it

[2:21:06] » through deputy may the deputy mayor to council member Johnson. So we have asked

[2:21:11] the Matsu bureau, the city of Palmer and yourselves for a resolution nominating

[2:21:15] your projects and that that you want to prioritize and agreeing to pay the

[2:21:20] match. We have given a date of September 1st um to all the municipalities

[2:21:26] [clears throat] because we need time to program our tip. So once we receive the

[2:21:31] resolutions and we um figure out what projects um have been uh nominated by

[2:21:37] the local jurisdictions, we'll go go about programming our tip. So we

[2:21:42] anticipate having the draft tip completed for our technical committee

[2:21:46] and policy board in October. It would go for public comment in November and then

[2:21:52] be approved in December and submitted to Federal Highways. If you do not approve

[2:21:57] a resolution in the very short term, we will not program any projects for the

[2:22:03] city of Wasilla. So, right now, as our current short-term metropolitan

[2:22:08] transportation plan list looks, um we have uh priorities from the city of

[2:22:15] Palmer and the Matsu Burough. So, the city of Palmer is asking for 7.5 million

[2:22:21] in the short term. The city of Wasilla's projects total 14.8 million and the

[2:22:28] Matsu Burough's projects total 56.4 million. So their projects span beyond

[2:22:35] the current tip. And I share this because they have applied for a lot more

[2:22:41] projects and [clears throat] we I just want to let I don't want you to miss

[2:22:46] your opportunity for the next 12 or 15 years to access some of this

[2:22:52] funding because the the bureau has applied for a lot. So I I'm not trying

[2:22:59] to pit the bureau against the city, but we've tried to allocate a share based on

[2:23:03] population and the application. um the projects that were applied for and

[2:23:10] that's yeah if so if you don't pass a resolution we won't program your

[2:23:14] projects potentially for a couple cycles.

[2:23:18] » So in response I mean I um

[2:23:24] I don't like the list in front of me. Okay, I'll be perfectly honest there. On

[2:23:29] the other hand, I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot by saying, um, yeah,

[2:23:36] I don't like this or I don't like that or, you know, if if I have a shot at

[2:23:39] federal money, realizing that I still don't have a commitment for the funds

[2:23:44] and I can still at the later time when the resolution comes through say no. So,

[2:23:50] while I don't like to do this, I sort of feel exactly in the same position we did

[2:23:55] with the software vote just a few minutes ago. This is being forced down

[2:23:59] my throat. In this particular case, I will support it because I don't want to

[2:24:04] lose the federal funding, but I'm not really a happy camper.

[2:24:10] » May I Yes. >> add a comment. I'm so sorry. So, we're

[2:24:16] in this unfortunate time frame right now with approving our long range

[2:24:20] metropolitan transportation plan and developing our TIP at the same time

[2:24:25] because we're a new MO and the federal guidelines say within four years of

[2:24:29] designation, you have to finalize these two plans and

[2:24:35] start spending the federal dollars that are suballocated to your region. So in

[2:24:40] the future there won't be this pressure that you have one week to make a

[2:24:45] decision or three weeks to make a decision. We will update our MTP every

[2:24:50] five years. We're going to start on that and two years again to do another

[2:24:54] update. We will update our TIP again with amendments probably annually, but

[2:24:58] we will redo our TIP every four years because we know priorities change and

[2:25:03] project interests change. There would normally be a year between TIP

[2:25:08] programming and MTP finalization so that there isn't this time pressure. But

[2:25:14] because we're a new organization and we're trying to meet the federal

[2:25:17] deadline of finalizing our documents by December, that's why there's this

[2:25:21] condensed timeline.

[2:25:25] » Council member Schmidt. So, I'm [clears throat] in favor of this and I I

[2:25:29] think anyone that looks at it can say, "Hey, there's, you know, 14.5,000

[2:25:34] or million dollars here on the board and we're only looking at approximately 89%

[2:25:40] to take care of in [snorts] our city." And as we all know how much uh tight

[2:25:46] money is here in the city, we were just talking about taxes earlier. We don't

[2:25:50] want to keep on raising and raising and raising. if we had to play for just one

[2:25:54] of these projects is more than doing the total of them with the 90%

[2:26:00] um help from the government on this. So, I'm definitely in favor of this.

[2:26:06] » Council member uh Crapton, >> thank you. Um

[2:26:12] I mean, what I'm hearing is it's just a few years that we're missing out on

[2:26:15] because all we're doing is missing this round of projects. It it doesn't stop us

[2:26:20] from getting federal funding. It's just these specific projects.

[2:26:27] I mean, again, I I think of the future bind that we're going to potentially be

[2:26:34] in when these projects come back and they say, "Hey, we need to work on

[2:26:38] getting this." And we say, "Sure, go for it." And then we turn around and find

[2:26:42] out that this project's a lot more than what we are expecting and now we're

[2:26:45] bound to those dollars. So, I I I still stand by uh by what the by

[2:26:52] voting no on this project. >> Council member Graham.

[2:26:57] » Thank you. [clears throat] First, I suppose I should commend the

[2:27:02] administration, which would be Eric mostly for

[2:27:08] allowing the the NO to kind of tell you what the test answers were before you

[2:27:13] took the test. You know, he said, "These are the priorities. these this is what

[2:27:17] gets the heaviest weight and so on and so forth. And then obviously from the

[2:27:21] numbering of the projects you did very well. I mean our projects our lowest

[2:27:27] ranked project is number 19 you know so you've done very well for

[2:27:33] you know seeing what is going to float uh through the through the planning

[2:27:39] organization which is good but what you know is missing you know is our roads

[2:27:46] master plan. where does this fit in? And and uh for this particular uh

[2:27:53] resolution, you know, it doesn't fit in at all. Uh but it's but it's kind of the

[2:27:59] best that we have at present. And although I really think, you know, uh

[2:28:05] project number 19 is uh is, you know, like throwing spaghetti at

[2:28:11] the wall at this point. I mean, it's it's just a jumble of stuff there.

[2:28:15] uh you know the other projects you know are far enough out uh or far enough down

[2:28:21] the line where I think I can support these uh and and come back you know it's

[2:28:27] a it it you know it's great leveraging of the federal funds uh that are there

[2:28:32] and by the time we get to those two big projects at the end of the list we will

[2:28:37] have had time to talk about them and hopefully by then we'll have a roads

[2:28:41] master plan and and be able to dovetail them together. But this one is uh I know

[2:28:48] not ideal but it is workable. Thank you. >> Is there further discussion?

[2:28:55] » Madame clerk, can you do a roll call vote?

[2:28:57] » Thank you, madam deputy mayor. Council member Schmidt, this is on the adoption

[2:29:00] of resolution serial number 2646. >> Approve.

[2:29:04] » Council member Craftton, >> no.

[2:29:06] » Council member Johnson, >> yes.

[2:29:08] » Council member Rubio, >> yes.

[2:29:10] » Council member Codle, >> yes. Council member Graham.

[2:29:14] » Yes. >> The motion to adopt resolution serial

[2:29:16] number 2646 passes with council members Codle, Graham, Schmidt, Johnson, and

[2:29:21] Rubio in support. Council member Craft and opposed.

[2:29:29] » We are now at communications. Madame Clerk, please read the items by title.

[2:29:33] » Thank you. I am number 2610, monthly financial reports for the period ending

[2:29:38] April 30th, 2026. IM number 2611 monthly financial reports for the period ending

[2:29:44] May 31st, 2026. Two sets of planning commission meeting minutes July 14th and

[2:29:49] July 28th, 2026. We are now at audience con um comments

[2:29:55] which is a time for members for of the public to share their views with the

[2:29:58] council. This is not a question and answer period or a time for dialogue.

[2:30:01] Speakers may be referred to administration or issues raised may be

[2:30:04] taken under the advisement of the council or administration. Please begin

[2:30:08] your testimony by stating your first and last name. And if you are a city

[2:30:12] resident, comments are limited to three minutes.

[2:30:23] » Good evening, uh, Deputy Mayor Rubio and council members. My name for the record,

[2:30:27] my name is David Wilson. I'm a city resident. I just wanted to share a brief

[2:30:31] little story I shared with the police chief. Uh, we ran into a resident over

[2:30:35] the weekend who was telling me about a situation with a law enforcement

[2:30:38] officer. They were in medical distress. And short story of the matter, I was

[2:30:43] hoping that she would be here today, but I think it's raining and didn't want to

[2:30:46] wheel the wheelchair down here, but uh the police officer

[2:30:52] Rice it was um came and really lended aid to this uh um elderly uh lady and um

[2:31:00] helped her get her wheelchair back into her place after she was cred off to the

[2:31:04] hospital. She came back to that surprise and didn't really want to trust an

[2:31:09] officer, but she said uh Officer Rice had the kindest eyes she's ever seen and

[2:31:14] really made it a pleasant experience and now she has more faith into law

[2:31:18] enforcement. She looks forward to more interactions, positive interactions with

[2:31:21] Wasola PD. So, I just want to say you guys have a fine while still doing great

[2:31:25] service and I know that you guys don't always get those compliments and stories

[2:31:29] back and so uh she just wanted to make sure that the public knew uh about what

[2:31:34] he did and that she wanted to honor him and she was like, "Oh, we need to have

[2:31:38] the press come because I guess he's out of town." And so, when he gets back to

[2:31:40] the airport, we want to do this whole hurrah for him. And I was like, "Whoa,

[2:31:43] whoa, whoa. Why don't you start with council first and let them know that

[2:31:47] what a wonderful job that he did on um in serving and protecting our

[2:31:51] residents." So, thank you. >> Thank you.

[2:31:59] Okay, seeing no more, we are on We are now at mayor, clerk, attorney, and

[2:32:03] council comments. Madame clerk, >> thank you. And I I think I'll just echo

[2:32:07] onto that. I didn't ever say it publicly, but I got hit um by a teen

[2:32:11] driver in the Target parking lot, which is why I'm driving a rental. It was my

[2:32:15] first um interaction with the police department. He didn't know me. I of

[2:32:20] course never identify myself as a city official. He was professional. He was

[2:32:25] kind. I couldn't have been a better experience and I had shared that with

[2:32:29] the chief. So kudos to WPD. Um our election is progressing. We have our re

[2:32:34] review board which will meet here on Thursday um to test the ballot

[2:32:38] tabulators that'll be used in the election. If you want to vote by mail,

[2:32:42] deadline is 5:00 p.m. September 29th to get that application into the clerk's

[2:32:46] office. And then early inerson voting will take place here at city hall

[2:32:50] September 21st through October 5th. We have weekdays 9 to5 and Saturdays 10 to

[2:32:55] three. And we will see you all here next regular meeting September 14th. Thank

[2:33:00] you. >> Thank you city attorney.

[2:33:03] » Thank you uh no comments. Very long meeting.

[2:33:08] » Thank you council member Johnson.

[2:33:13] » Thank you mayor. Um, I'm going to be traveling to the lower

[2:33:18] 48 uh for the first 3 weeks of September. I will endeavor to call in on

[2:33:25] the 14th uh so we can have a quorum um

[2:33:31] other than that I don't really have any comments.

[2:33:35] » Council member Codle.

[2:33:39] » Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. Um good meeting tonight. I want to thank Moren

[2:33:44] for all of her work on this presentation for the sales tax um options for us.

[2:33:50] Gives us a lot of things to to think about. Um I also just want to make a

[2:33:55] comment that I appreciate the staff status update report from

[2:33:59] administration. I think it's good to get these updates and it just gives a lot

[2:34:05] more transparency to what's going on um for the council and and keeps us in

[2:34:11] touch with the administration and I just appreciate that and that's all I have.

[2:34:15] Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Johnson. Oh,

[2:34:18] it's on here twice. >> Council member uh Graham [laughter]

[2:34:23] Graham that other old

[2:34:25] » flip of the I don't know. We're going with Graham.

[2:34:28] » I resemble that remark. [laughter] Uh yeah, first I wanted to uh you know

[2:34:34] thank me. That was a very interesting uh presentation. Lots of information uh out

[2:34:39] there uh a lot of questions uh answered that the council has asked over the

[2:34:44] years and has never really been addressed as a bundle. So that was a a

[2:34:49] very good thing. I really appreciate it as well as all the staff work on a

[2:34:52] variety of things. Uh I did mention to the chief uh and to

[2:34:58] Lori, you know, from Mattcom that the burrow uh is now in in public meetings

[2:35:05] saying that there's going to be a new MATCOM

[2:35:08] » [snorts] >> uh near Tate and Bogard Road associated

[2:35:11] with a new fire station. Uh I'd be interested in finding out more about

[2:35:16] that, but since it's already 8:30, maybe we can do that at a future meeting. You

[2:35:21] know, I mean, if if this is just the burrows pie in the sky idea, it'd be

[2:35:25] nice to know that, but I'm really curious why they would be saying that

[2:35:30] that's the way things are going to be if if the city doesn't hasn't signed off on

[2:35:34] that. you know, MATCOM is a city uh issue and and and it's a a city function

[2:35:40] and uh it's interesting to know how would be interesting to know how the

[2:35:46] bureau plans to take that over and and just move it without uh telling anything

[2:35:50] about it. Uh also uh the uh updates provided by uh the deputy administrator

[2:35:57] the written updates that that [snorts] council person codle talked about very

[2:36:02] uh good uh to know what's going on uh and I look forward to seeing more of

[2:36:07] those. I mean, as a council person, you get questions all the time. You know,

[2:36:11] what's going on here? What's going on there? And if if the administration, uh,

[2:36:17] uh, you know, doesn't pass that information on, then each of us end up

[2:36:21] going, uh, to Eric or going to Scott or going to wherever to get the answers,

[2:36:25] which is, you know, certainly not ideal. So, this, in addition to being a lot of

[2:36:30] great information, it also, I think, cuts down on staff time. So,

[2:36:33] congratulations on on getting that out. Look forward to that as well. But thank

[2:36:38] you uh for being here uh tonight. It's always a pleasure to have uh interaction

[2:36:44] with the public. So uh get out, enjoy the fair, have a good time.

[2:36:50] » Thank you, Council Member Schmidt. >> Yeah, I want to say thank you to Marine

[2:36:55] as well. Um that was a very good presentation on the taxes. Um quite a

[2:36:59] bit of information there, but I appreciate all the information she

[2:37:03] brought to everyone. And thank you, Eric, for uh getting these uh proposals

[2:37:08] together for uh the transportation uh tips um so we could uh get some of this

[2:37:14] federal funding. I think that's a great job on that. Thank you. And I will

[2:37:20] probably not be attending the next meeting on the September the 14th. I do

[2:37:26] go on an annual moose hunt and that's the date. I

[2:37:30] » Things may change. I may get home sooner or later. You never know. and I may call

[2:37:34] in. So, if that's the case, I will do my best to make it, but it's about an 80%

[2:37:39] chance I will not. >> Hopefully, you get the moose quicker.

[2:37:44] » Either way, >> have fun. Council member Craftton,

[2:37:48] » thank you. Uh, couple questions I did have. Um, first was to Eric. Eric, uh,

[2:37:54] where we're at with the airport property acquisition. Did you say at the next

[2:37:59] meeting we're going to be getting some more information?

[2:38:02] Yeah, there's a lot happening on that front. So, um [clears throat] I will

[2:38:06] pull together the updates that we've had before and where they stand. Um there's

[2:38:11] a parcel that um the large parcel we've been talking about. We have been meeting

[2:38:16] with the FAA on its importance to the extension that we've talked about and

[2:38:22] because of the value of that parcel, we have to do another appraisal to m to

[2:38:26] meet the FAA's um requirements. One of the other things that we're doing on the

[2:38:31] other parcels is explaining to the FAA on the ones that we've already purchased

[2:38:36] why we needed them. And we'll be explaining that um there's this there's

[2:38:41] this process showing if we can show that the whole process whole parcel makes

[2:38:46] more sense than all the work and cost and time to subdivide it, then they'll

[2:38:50] join us in the complete purchase. So our consultant is pulling that together. So

[2:38:54] I will be bringing the council an update on where everyone stands. um property

[2:39:00] acquisition wise. Um the other thing I want to let the council know is we're

[2:39:03] working with the burrow fire department to um uh burn down the um gardener house

[2:39:11] that we purchased. That was one of the first purchases we made. Um it froze

[2:39:15] last winter with all of the extreme wind events that we had and so it was

[2:39:20] couldn't live in it anyway, but it it needs to go down. And so we've been

[2:39:23] working with the fire department to make that happen. and um it's looking very

[2:39:28] positive in their steps. So there'll be an agreement that we have to sign that I

[2:39:31] think will probably have to come in front of the council. I've asked legal

[2:39:35] to look at it. So I think the council will see that because of um the way they

[2:39:39] do liability coverage. So you'll see more on that at the same time.

[2:39:43] » Are we burning marshmallows? Are we all >> We definitely should have a party on

[2:39:48] [laughter] >> they're practicing practicing.

[2:39:50] » Uh second question probably might be this one might be to our finance

[2:39:53] director Wendy. Um, great uh, presentation by Meen there. Like I said

[2:39:59] earlier on sales tax. I know a lot of this was questions that I think the

[2:40:02] council has had hanging out there for a while. Um, the big question is what is

[2:40:07] the end goal for this presentation? Was it to just kind of say, "Hey, here's

[2:40:10] some changes. Is the are we expecting the administration to bring us forward

[2:40:15] some ordinance changes or is this uh, something that the council needs to a

[2:40:20] council member council members need to take up?

[2:40:23] First and foremost, it Can you hear me? >> Yeah.

[2:40:26] » Okay. Um, first and foremost, it was out of the meetings that I that

[2:40:32] Crystal and I sat down and met with you. Almost every one of you wanted to meet

[2:40:38] uh about that or wanted some kind of understanding of what sales tax was here

[2:40:42] in the city. Um, you know, it really did flesh out a lot of things um that need

[2:40:48] to change. and um Moren and I were were going to be sitting down and looking at

[2:40:54] some of those revenue items that you said that you could that that you saw on

[2:41:00] her presentation that need to be updated.

[2:41:03] » Okay. So, there's a good chance we could be seeing an ordinance come forward from

[2:41:06] the administration is what I'm hearing. >> Yes.

[2:41:09] » Okay. And then last question, I'm just going to beat the drum again about our

[2:41:13] water and sewer rates. uh would love to still have that meeting uh with is it

[2:41:19] mut >> waterworth

[2:41:21] » waterworth with Munworth that's what it is so just just a reminder on that one

[2:41:26] again >> yes Eric and I um have that on our

[2:41:29] agenda and we definitely will be talking about that

[2:41:34] » can I ask something if I may I just had a thought would it help Wendy if we had

[2:41:38] I was kind of thinking of how the council flushed through some of those

[2:41:42] changes with title 16 would it help if we brought back another sales tax

[2:41:47] presentation and you guys could kind of flush through

[2:41:52] we kind we're kind of on board for this, you know, changing this exemption or

[2:41:56] increasing revenue here, but like this is completely off the table.

[2:42:01] » I'd be open to that. I I think the biggest thing is don't throw it under a

[2:42:05] public introduction with no debate. I mean, know that when we talk about that

[2:42:09] one, that's going to be a heavily debated topic. So, I would think the

[2:42:12] biggest thing is >> that would be wonderful. making sure we

[2:42:14] have the the time to debate and discuss as a committee of the whole. So it'd

[2:42:18] almost be better to come in as a a new business or something committee of the

[2:42:22] whole discussion with here's the items. >> So that

[2:42:25] » I think that may may end up being more fruitful in the end just suggest

[2:42:29] » then than feeling like we're beating up an ordinance that's been spent you know

[2:42:32] many hours on working out and just to turn out for us be like we don't like

[2:42:36] this scrap it and start over. So uh with that that is all. I appreciate it. Thank

[2:42:41] you very much. Uh great meeting tonight. Um, thank you. Back to me. I just want

[2:42:46] to echo what everyone's saying. Meen, uh, her presentation was awesome

[2:42:52] » and so very informative. Enjoyed it and, uh, as I look at it, we no further

[2:42:58] business at hand. And I'm >> Did you get Kyle?

[2:43:01] » Yes, I got it. >> You said Johnson twice.

[2:43:04] » He was on there twice. He got lucky and Schmidt got left off. So I I got it. I'm

[2:43:08] adjourning the meeting unless

City Council Regular - 24 Aug 2026

Transcript