On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly will hold a public hearing on a seasonal sales tax. It’s a great idea: An easy way to raise money for our schools while giving a tax break to year-round residents.
I’m supporting a “clean” seasonal sales tax we can all get behind. It raises sales tax from the current 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent in the summer months, then drops the sales tax rate to 4.5 percent during winter.
This raises about $270,000 annually, enough to cover this year’s $540,000 increase in school spending when combined with about $350,000 in savings we’ll receive next year after paying off our school bond debt.
The assembly favors a seasonal sales tax change that would raise the sales tax from the current 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent during the summer months, exempt food purchases during winter months and reduce funding of the tourism and economic development fund by $288,000 per year. It raises about $289,000 annually.
This proposal is bogged down in policy questions, including whether we should significantly decrease tourism/economic development funding and whether and how much of the year we should exempt food purchases from sales tax. These ideas beg a larger discussion and separate consideration by voters.
(Additionally, changing the 1 percent sales tax dedicated to tourism to economic development to less than 1 percent should require a separate vote, as voters established these designations separately.)
The clean seasonal sales tax proposal simply changes two numbers: Up one percent on all sales in the summer; down one percent on all sales in winter.
Contact your borough assembly member before Tuesday and tell them you support a clean seasonal sales tax. Thank you.