We Budget Better When We're Involved (but Don't Forget Self-Care)
There are two more chances for residents of the Fairbanks North Start Borough to weigh in on this years proposed Borough budget. The next one is tomorrow, May 4 at 6:00pm.
The newest iteration of the proposed budget falls even further under our tax cap, going to something like $27 million under the legal ceiling.
That would mean lower property tax rates amid rising costs and increased property values: yay!
That would come at the cost of flat or less funding for certain community services: boo!!
One of the major proposed cuts is to the local contribution for education funding. Another is to Mary Siah (though, I’ve heard whispers I haven’t been able to follow up on yet that there are contingency plans for Mary Siah services in the works…hopefully more on that soon).
It’s also, as Eric Troyer writes here, a good time to speak up about support for our trail system.
This and more is happening at tomorrow’s Borough Assembly Meeting at the Mona Lisa Drexler Assembly Chambers, Juanita Helms Administration Center, 907 Terminal Street, Fairbanks, AK.
Meeting agenda: https://fnsb.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4646/overview
Regular Assembly Meeting and Reconvened Regular Assembly Meeting on May 4, 2023 beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Webinar ID: 160 512 0613
Passcode: 771304
Telephone: 646 828 7666 or 833 568 8864 (Toll Free)
While I encourage you to both stay abreast of the issues of the day and spend some of your surely limited free time with advocacy, I also encourage you to take a deep breath…unclench your jaw…do a big stretch… drink some water…and spend some time out in the sunshine.
Participation in a political system like ours can be exhausting, and sometimes I wonder if I’m helping, or just helping tire us all out.
I’ll plug a good article from Jack Barnwell of the Daily News Miner with more details about the budget and a warning from the Mayor Ward that the current proposed budget could cut too much to be sustainable, and then give you back the rest of your reading-time today.
