‘Grocery tax’ won’t stop most budget cuts, officials say

• Citizens defend Boys and Girls Club

By Aaron Selbig
Homer Tribune
When Homer voters go to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of Proposition 1 – the seasonal levy of a “grocery tax” from Sept. 1 through May 31 each year – some may do so thinking a “yes” vote would mean reinstatement of $1.3 million in proposed budget cuts to city services and nonprofit agencies.
Not so fast, warned members of the Homer City Council at their Sept. 28 meeting.
Even if Prop 1 passes, only half of the 3 percent sales tax would go into the city’s general fund and be available to plug holes in the budget. The rest would split evenly between the water and sewer fund and a dedicated fund for roads and trails.
According to estimates from the city finance department, that would amount to roughly $300,000 for fiscal year 2010.
“Three-hundred thousand only goes so far,” said Mayor Pro Tem Dennis Novak. “It certainly couldn’t bring everything back … but it might help in some areas that are really important to the community.”
Judging by the reaction from a packed house of citizens concerned about the cuts, continued support for the Homer Boys and Girls Club – which would be forced from its current city-owned home under the 2010 budget proposed by City Manager Walt Wrede – should be high on that list.
“We give the youth a safe place to come and have a great time with organized activities,” said club volunteer Phaedra Bennett, who presented council members with art projects made by children at the club. “It seems to me that there’s got to be something the city can come up with to help the club.”
The club provides after-school games, art activities and snacks to an average of 58 children per day, added Bennett.
“If my costs are exorbitant, I’m not just going to kick my kids out of the house,” said Club Director Kelly Jackman. “That’s how I feel now that we’re being kicked out of the building.”
Instead of forcing the Boys and Girls Club out of their building, the city should look at trimming fat in its own departments, said Greg Martin, who suggested the public works department consider outsourcing some of the equipment it needs – such as bulldozers and excavators – instead of owning it.
“There’s no private contractor in town that could have as much stuff as the city has without using it,” said Martin. “If you crunch the numbers on what it costs to rent that equipment as opposed to owning it … you might find you really have no business owning it.”
The council will continue to take public testimony on the proposed 2010 budget at its next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 12. In the meantime, they will await the outcome of Tuesday’s municipal election and an updated report on September’s sales tax revenue from Finance Director Regina Harville.
The latest projections are bleak, said Harville, with revenues from the month of August down 10 percent from a year ago.
“All we can do is wait and see,” she said. “When you talk to all the business folks, they say this is the worst year they’ve ever seen.”

Enstar plans to send North Fork gas to Anchor Point
The council got another piece of bad news at Monday’s meeting with the announcement that Enstar Natural Gas Company has hatched a plan with Armstrong Cook Inlet LLC to ship natural gas from two wells in the North Fork area to Anchor Point – and not to Homer as had originally been suggested.
The plan would involve the construction of two new pipelines, one from the North Fork wells – financed by a consortium of Armstrong and four other companies – to Anchor Point. Another pipeline would connect Anchor Point to the existing Kenai Kachemak Pipeline at Happy Valley. The proposed project would make natural gas available to Anchor Point residents for the first time.
“The bottom line is that it’s good for Anchor Point, but we’re not getting gas here,” Novak said. “We’re kind of getting the short end of the deal here, but … I don’t know what can be done about it.”
Enstar officials have asked the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to expedite the approval process, with final approval possibly coming as soon as March. In the meantime, Wrede suggested the council file a comment with the RCA.
“I would suggest that, at a minimum, the city should oppose this filing unless the RCA removes Homer from Enstar’s certificate to free the city up to pursue deals with other suppliers,” Wrede said in his city manager’s report.

Novak veto of wind energy ordinance overridden
An attempt by Mayor Pro Tem Novak to hold up a recently passed set of regulations governing the construction of small wind energy systems failed Monday, with council members voting 4-2 to override his veto. Only Novak and Council member David Lewis voted against the veto override.
“I vetoed this because I don’t feel it addresses the issues in a reasonable way and it leaves a lot of things out,” Novak said. “I think there are several other options that can be explored.”
Novak said the sweeping set of new regulations do not adequately protect property owners from the “visual impact” and noise that could be created by a neighbor’s wind system. He also noted that they do not require proof of public notice before construction.
“I’d rather keep this ordinance on the books and bring some improvements in the next few months or so,” said council member Francie Roberts.

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