An Assembly worksession this Friday will kick-off the Assembly's review of the 2023 budget with presentations from the administration on Mayor Bronson’s proposed budget.
Assembly Budget Worksession (1 of 3)
Friday, October 14, 11-4pm at City Hall, Suite 155
The Process
Each fall, the Mayor submits a budget to the Assembly that includes the General Operating Budget, the Capital Improvement Program (bonds and state/federal/private fund requests), the Utilities/Enterprise budgets, and the Six-Year Fiscal Program. After reviewing the budget, asking questions of the Administration in work sessions, and listening to community input, the Assembly then may make amendments to the budget based on its findings. The budget is typically passed by the Assembly at the last Regular Meeting in November and it is enacted by the Mayor and their administration on January 1 of the following year.
Schedule for 2023 Budget
- Sept. 30: Mayor submitted budget and six-year fiscal program to Assembly
- Oct. 11: Formal introduction of mayor's budgets to Assembly
- Oct. 14: Assembly worksession on general government operating & capital budgets
- Oct. 21: Assembly worksession on enterprise and utilities operating & capital budgets
- Oct. 25: First budget public hearing at Regular Assembly meeting
- Nov. 9: Second budget public hearing at Regular Assembly meeting
- Nov. 10: Assembly worksession on proposed budget amendments
- Nov. 22: Assembly budget approval at Regular meeting
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Risk Limiting Audit on 2022 Elections
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At the September 27 Regular Assembly Meeting, the Assembly approved the Risk Limiting Audits for the 2022 municipal elections, which showed that the municipal election scanning, adjudication, and tabulation system performed as expected and the results of the elections reflected the will of the voters.
Post-election audits such as this, where the paper ballots are checked against the results produced by the vote tallying equipment to ensure accuracy, are a critical piece of our checks and balances to ensure that the will of the voters has been respected. They are also an industry best practice to test and protect the accuracy and integrity of an election.
This year, audits were performed on both the April 5 Regular Election and the June 21 Special Election. The final reports that were approved by the Assembly can be found on the Municipal Elections website. The audits used statistically developed audit techniques that allow random selection of a number of ballots to be audited that provide statistical confidence that the tabulation system performed as expected. The audits were publicly noticed and candidates were invited to attend. The results were also presented to the public at an Assembly worksession on September 23.
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From Homeless to Stably Housed Plan: Updates
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The Assembly continues to work on elements of the Homeless to Stably Housed Plan, the municipality's current contribution to the community-developed Anchored Home Plan.
- At a September 26 Special Meeting, the Assembly approved funding and contracts for components of the Emergency Shelter Plan through the end of the year, including contracts for operations of the Sullivan Arena and Golden Lion, and contracts with Bean's Cafe and Covenant House for expanded shelter capacity (at the October 11 meeting, the Golden Lion was removed from the Emergency Shelter Plan so it can be developed separately as a housing project).
- At an October 3 Special Meeting, the Assembly adopted alternative measures for the Emergency Shelter Plan to allow Sullivan Arena to increase its current capacity limit from 150 up to 200 beds for surge capacity, and secure 55 double-occupancy rooms at the Alex Hotel.
- At the October 11 meeting, the Assembly approved a slate of contracts from the Administration for leases, sheltering and food services at the Alex and Aviator Hotels. The Alex Hotel is newly online as a result of the Emergency Shelter Plan and the Aviator is being extended from its current use as a non-congregate shelter.
- The Navigation Center is moving into next steps. A worksession was held on October 7 where the Bronson Administration provided additional information and answered Assembly member questions on AM 496-2022, a contract for construction for $4.9M. An additional worksession will be held on October 20 advance of the vote on the item at the October 25 Assembly meeting.
***To help community members follow this complex issue and to learn background about the municipality's involvement in Housing and Homelessness, Legislative Services has developed a website and background sheet with more information:
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Homeless to Stably Housed Plan: A Snapshot
The plan identifies opportunities, develops plans and prepares funding proposals to address gaps in the traditional housing and shelter system by focusing on the following areas:
- Complex Care Shelter – the former Sockeye Inn opened this past June
- Navigation Center and Shelter – in design; funding approved by the Assembly in April through AR 2022-111(S), As Amended - construction pending passage of AM 496-2022
- Substance Misuse Residential Treatment – waiting for update from Administration
- Workforce and Supportive Housing – this is the Guest House project funded through AR 2022-22 with ARPA funds
- Housing for Special Populations (couples, elders, women and LGBTQ+) – this is the next step of the plan
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In Case You Missed It - Chair Report
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At each Regular Assembly Meeting, Chair Suzanne LaFrance gives a report on recent community events and issues of interest before the Assembly. If you missed her report at a meeting, you can now read the chair reports online.
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During the September 27 meeting, the Assembly took the following actions:
- Approved a grant of $200,000,000 from the state legislature for the Port of Alaska modernization project.
- Approved the 2022 Election Risk Limiting Audits (see info above)
- Passed AR 2022-262, a resolution in support of efforts to restore the flow of the Eklutna River, with amendments. The final version will be posted in the Public Portal in the next week or so.
During the October 11 meeting, the Assembly took the following actions:
- Passed AR 2022-291 (with amendments - the final draft will be posted on the Public Portal in a few weeks) to use funds from the 2022 State of Alaska Community Assistance Program to cover unanticipated 2022 municipal operating expense increases, including increased APD vehicle towing expenses, increased fuel costs for municipal fleet vehicles, and Sullivan Arena repairs. An amendment provided $800K to create a long-range transportation plan to include, along with other transportation issues: the study of pedestrian safety, management of right of way, snow removal from streets and sidewalks, and on-street parking management.
- Passed AR 2022-292 to re-appropriate some unused ARPA funds to the Polynesian Association of Alaska for education and community outreach and to the Pacific Community of Alaska for maintenance and expansion of their workforce.
- Passed AO 2022-93(S), with some minor amendments to remove the Golden Lion from the Emergency Shelter Plan so it can be developed as housing, and ratified the funding for emergency shelter operations designated on September 26 with AR 2022-293, As Amended.
- Passed AO 2022-62 to create a new procedure for the Assembly to approve Reinvestment Focus Areas. This collaboration between the Assembly and the Planning department has been in the works for many months and there are a number of supporting documents posted on the agenda for the October 11 meeting under Item 14.G.
For items that had action taken at an Assembly Meeting, finalized documents incorporating Assembly amendments are posted here about 2-3 weeks after passage.
For more information on recent actions:
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- An ordinance to provide for optional independent structural plan review for commercial buildings in the Municipality, and review of all plans for residential three-family buildings. The ordinance was reviewed at the October 7 meeting of the Community and Economic Development Committee and will likely come before the body soon.
- 2023 Budget – see budget section above.
- The Assembly and Administration are still researching a potential donation from ASD for relocatable buildings to use as municipal storage and/or emergency shelter. No decisions have been made yet.
October 25 Regular Meeting:
- AM 496-2022, an amendment to the contract for construction services for the navigation center for $4.9M. This item was postponed from September 13 to give the Assembly and Administration more time to work together to review the current plans and financial details.
- A public hearing on AO 2022-17, an ordinance submitting to Anchorage voters a ballot proposition amending the Anchorage Municipal Charter to support and advance early childhood education, dedicate the net proceeds of the current retail marijuana sales tax to this purpose, and excepting the marijuana tax from the tax cap. A worksession will be held prior to the meeting.
- AO 2022-77(S), an ordinance to put before the voters a charter amendment for filling vacancies on the Assembly and in the Office of the Mayor will have a public hearing at the October 25 meeting. A worksession on October 7 helped the Assembly answer questions and a new or amended version will be made public soon.
- Public hearings for rate increases with Solid Waste Services (AO 2022-91(S) and AO 2022-92(S)) and AWWU (AO 2022-94). These items, as well as a Port of Alaska lease agreement (AO 2022-86) will be addressed at the October 20 Enterprise and Utilities Committee meeting.
- Public hearing #1 for 2023 budget items (AO 2022-88, AR 2022-294, AR 2022-294, AR 2022-295, AO 2022-90, AO 2022-89, AR 2022-296 and AO 2022-87).
November:
- November 9 Regular Meeting: AIM 160-2022 regarding condemnation of the Golden Lion property after the item goes through the AMATS policy committee at their October 20 meeting.
- November 9 Regular Meeting: Public hearing #2 for 2023 budget items (AO 2022-88, AR 2022-294, AR 2022-294, AR 2022-295, AO 2022-90, AO 2022-89, AR 2022-296 and AO 2022-87)
- November 10: 2023 Budget Worksession on Assembly budget amendments.
- November 22 Regular Meeting: AO 2022-80, the Title 21 Parking and Site Access Amendments, which reduces parking requirements for developments and neighborhoods where people drive less, will be postponed so a working group can go through the ordinance in more detail before passage. It reduces excess driveway and parking dimensional requirements for multi-unit housing, strengthens bicycle parking requirements, and simplifies and clarifies pedestrian access standards. The amendments also tailor these regulations for urban neighborhood contexts, such as in Fairview, South Addition, and Spenard.
To learn more about what’s ahead for the Anchorage Assembly, visit:
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Learn how to get involved and share your voice.
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Header photo: Anchorage Skyline, Ken Graham Photography, courtesy of Visit Anchorage.
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