Senate Bipartisan Working Group

(ANCHORAGE, September 24, 2009) –  Senator Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) today released a legislative research report showing that the average Anchorage homeowner saved thousands of dollars of property taxes in 2007 and 2008 thanks to the legislature’s reinstatement of state revenue sharing with the municipality and agreement to put up a significant amount of the municipality’s retirement costs.

The report found that in the elimination of the state’s revenue sharing program in 2004 led to a substantial increase in local property taxes around the state.

“Property tax relief has been an important issue for us in Juneau,” said Wielechowski.  “I’m glad to see our state policies are providing some relief for Anchorage residents.”

By taking the total amount of state funding provided to the Municipality and calculating the amount the owner of an averaged priced home in Anchorage would have had to pay to equal that amount, the researchers were able to show that homeowners saved an average of $1,013 in 2007 and $1,153 in 2008.

The report also noted that, without the funding, the municipality would have had to make significant cuts to services such as police and fire or attempt to raise the funding through other means such as a sales tax.

For more information, call Senator Wielechowski or George Ascott at 269-0120.

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