Brett Huber: LaFrance’s $12 million school tax is the classic bait-and-switch on property owners

By BRETT HUBER | AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY-ALASKA

Just as Anchorage residents are opening their property tax assessment notices and experiencing serious sticker shock — with many assessments jumping by more than 30% — the mayor has rolled out a new $12 million special property tax levy that would raise property taxes again, this time under the banner of education.

On Jan. 27, the Anchorage Assembly will take up the $12 million property tax levy for schools. It’s a proposal that was suddenly, without notice, dropped on the public on Jan. 13. It went around the normal process, had nearly zero public vetting, and has lacked the transparency we should expect from our city leaders. A majority vote of the 12-member Assembly on Tuesday would send it straight to the voters.

At that point, this new tax will be sold by the education union as the answer to Anchorage’s lackluster education outcomes. What is truly alarming is the lack of process, trust, and the expansion of government power over property owners, who are already reeling from assessment notices that will cost many of us thousands of dollars.

This proposed addition to the property tax was rushed forward as a “laid on the table” item.

What does “laid on the table” mean? It is a procedural move intended for genuine emergencies, such as disasters, infrastructure failures, and sudden fiscal deficits that require urgent action. It was never meant for an impulsive property tax for a general purpose such as education.

What makes the timing even more telling is that this tax was introduced the very same night Mayor Suzanne LaFrance pulled her proposed 3% sales tax off the agenda. It was her sales tax scheme that faced overwhelming public opposition from the moment it was proposed just nine weeks ago.

Her administration gave up on their $175 million sales tax for $12 million in additional property tax? Whose idea was that?

The 3% sales tax had been marketed as providing property tax relief. But when that idea collapsed under public scrutiny, the administration didn’t abandon their tax appetite, they simply changed the packaging and went for higher property taxes instead. Evidently high property taxes weren’t as important as they had been just a week earlier.

Out went the unpopular sales tax. In came a property tax proposal with the Teflon coating: “For the children.” That’s the bait-and-switch that the Assembly is now preparing to foist on voters.

Everyone knows Anchorage voters support education. We almost always approve education bonds and the politicians know it’s one of the most effective political shields available. The one defeat in the past 10 years was in 2022, when voters rejected a $31 million bond to rebuild Inlet View Elementary School. Before that, the last education bond rejected was in 2016.

Why $12 million? Conveniently, this levy hits the maximum local contribution allowed under the newly increased Base Student Allocation — not a dollar less. With the new BSA formula in place, the mayor went straight to the legal ceiling of what Anchorage property owners are being required to pay. And yes, property taxes are passed down to renters.

This is clearly not a coincidence.

Remember, there was no public meeting with the full school board to discuss and debate the new property tax. And nothing in the ASD budget about it. If they coordinated, it was behind closed doors, keeping the public in the dark.

This is just a rushed levy, introduced outside normal procedure, using emergency rules for a non-emergency purpose.

And it comes at the same time, property owners across Anchorage just got their assessment notices and saw massive jumps in valuation. This levy (read property tax), would stack a new tax increase directly on top of already soaring property valuations.

Then there is the political timing. And that’s no accident.

The now-withdrawn sales tax was headed for the April ballot, a risk that would have endangered the mayor’s Assembly allies who are up for reelection. Removing the sales tax reduced that risk. Replacing it with a property tax “for the children” shifts the political pressure while preserving the revenue objective.

If the Assembly passes this, Anchorage property owners will have effectively subsidized the political campaigns of the very officials raising their taxes.

I will be at the Jan. 27 Assembly meeting to testify against this levy. Because process matters, transparency matters, and taxpayers deserve honesty, rather than political sleight-of-hand.

There will be a public comment period just before the vote on Tuesday. I encourage residents to attend, observe, and listen, and register their opinions. Even if you choose not to testify, simply being present still makes a difference. Transparency starts with citizens watching their government work.

Because this won’t stop Tuesday night.

If the Assembly passes this, and I fully expect they will, the real fight begins when ballots go out in mid-March, and the public campaign begins, likely supported by powerful interest groups like the NEA.

American for Prosperity advocates for limited government spending, lower taxes, reduced regulation and a fair and transparent process. Like the sales tax proposal, this new special levy has failed on all counts.  Anchorage deserves better.

Brett Huber is state director for Americans for Prosperity-Alaska and a longtime Alaskan.

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