By BOB MAIER
March 15, 2026 – With the on-going discussions concerning the increase in this year’s Anchorage property tax valuations it may be a good time to look at the ballot propositions being offered this year.
On Tuesday, ballots for the April 7 Anchorage election will be mailed.
If all of the bonds on the ballot are approved, the amount of property tax increase will be $56.29 per $100,000.00 in valuation.
With the average valuation of an Anchorage home now being $500,000.00, the annual property tax increase for each home will be $281.45.
These bonds are sold for a duration of 20 years. For the next 20 years each home will see this $281.45 increase each year.
That is $5,629.00 over the life of this year’s bond offerings.
This amount is added onto the property tax increase for bonds passed in previous years and will be added onto by bonds passed in future years.
Each bond is approved by an Assembly ordinance which places that bond on the ballot. Stated in that enabling ordinance, but not in the ballot language itself, is that if the projects listed in the bond are completed or found to be impractical, the municipality may apply the bond proceeds to other projects within that department at the Municipality’s “sole discretion.”
In each bond offered are we just creating the potential for a slush fund?
In Anchorage the amount of “total general obligation bonded indebtedness including authorized but unissued bonds” is $1,083,964,000. Over one billion dollars.
This figure includes “authorized but unissued general obligation bonds” amounting to $275,529,000. This figure breaks down to $148,550,000 for the municipality and $126,979,000 for the School District in approved but unused bonding.
If anyone wonders where the funding comes from for the license plate readers soon to be installed around Anchorage … now you know.
Bob Maier is a resident, property tax and utility ratepayer in Anchorage.
5 thoughts on “If all the bonds pass in the Anchorage election, how much will you end up paying the city?”
It is a sad fact that dumb Anchorage voters will vote yes on every one of the bonds and they will pass. For my money, every bond is a NO vote.
“………It is a sad fact that dumb Anchorage voters will vote yes on every one of the bonds and they will pass……….”
Yup…….with a voter turnout well under 20%. In the 1980’s, curious about Anchorage municipal bonded debt, I looked into it. It wasn’t easy to find back then before Al Gore invented the internet, but I did it. The debt was just shy of a $billion. I can only imagine what it is today.
If only the property tax payers who actually have to write the check out themselves and hand it over to the grifters at Democrat headquarters were allowed to vote on this sham it would nearly be a unanimous defeat unless of course some of that group were recipients of no bid contracts from their communist cohorts on the ASSembly similar to the former self appointed mayor/ASSembly member herself. Those who pay rent or have their property tax included in their monthly payment are nearly oblivious as to amounts of increases over the past few years in their assessments and total tax liability. I have asked several people with mortgages on their homes about the increases to assessments and total liability and they are clueless as to the increases. They just use autopay to pay their monthly payment and dont have any idea why they have to get a second job.
This is a well-written explanation of the lasting impact of passing bond propositions on homeowners. And, a reason why only property owners should have the right to vote on them. While renters carry some of the burden, they carry none of the risk that the landlord does. With voter apathy, unions organizing, promoting and funding predominantly left-leaning candidates and, a local government that is constantly hungry for other people’s money while they fecklessly throw it towards social engineering… republican, conservative and libertarian voters need to work together to put an end to this. Fill out your ballot and drive it to a drop box.
Just like Ukraine after its war revival sweeped across the land
Maybe Anchorage and Alaska needs a major hardship so all the atheists and agnostics and spiritualists will flee the state for greener pastures, So a revival csn sweep across Alaska where Christ can change peoples hearts because many antagonists to the Cross are not distracting with their superstitions and their iunbeliefs.
The bonds will pass again and we will have a liberal leftist assembly. The Right still has much work to do flipping the neighborhood councils and knowing their neighbors especially those who take the time to vote in every election. The right still don’t know their neighbors. Protests at the Assembly chambers won’t convince neighbors to get involved and vote. You need to know your neighbors.