By Marcia Kuszmaul

Homer Independent Press

At its Monday, Feb. 23, regular meeting, the Homer City Council will introduce proposed changes to the city’s election code and vote on several capital improvement measures, including a new dispatch recording system for the Police Department. A 4 p.m. worksession will focus on updates to the fiscal year 2026-27 budget, now approaching its midpoint.

Passage in Oct. 2025 of a proposition that changed Kenai Peninsula Borough elections to November to align with state and federal elections prompted the council last month to consider whether to keep the city’s October election date or change to November as well. Homer voters were nearly even (465/442) in their preference, but most (51.3%) supported the borough election date change.

A key consideration is the cost to administer a separate election. Until now, the city and borough shared costs, such as ballot programming and borough election equipment, election worker wages, facility rentals and voter information dissemination. A city analysis estimates costs could increase from $8,000 to $25,000 or more per election.

Other proposed election code updates deal with declaration of candidacy, voting procedures at the polls, runoff elections and more.

The council also will hold public hearings and vote on critical capital projects:

• Funding purchase of a new 2026 Mack Dump Truck to replace a decommissioned 2000 Freightliner that was scheduled for replacement in 2020. In his supporting memorandum, Public Works Director Daniel Kort notes that the city last purchased a dump truck 11 years ago. After exploring options to hire out services or rent a truck, Public Works recommends purchase of a $277,380 truck with four $75,085.84 annual payments.
  
  
  

•  Reappropriating $44,946.55 unspent funds from FY23 Alaska Community Assistance Program to replace the dispatch recording system at the Homer Police Department, which captures and archives 911 calls, radio traffic, phone lines and interview rooms, and to upgrade the city’s Microsoft Windows server operating system. In support of his recommendations, Bill Jirsa, chief technology officer, reported that in recent weeks a hardware failure took down the recording system for about 24 hours. Gaps in recordings can undermine the integrity of evidence, hinder after-action reviews and violate data retention laws, Jirsa wrote.  Technical support for the city’s current server operating system ends in October.
  
  
  

 In addition, Council Member Jason Davis will report on his investigations into the possibility of vacation rental company Airbnb collecting and remitting sales tax from short-term rental reservations directly to the borough or city.  

The council also will confirm the appointment of Michael Scanlon as chief of police.  

All city council meetings are open to the public at the Cowles Council Chambers of City Hall, 491 E. Pioneer Ave. Full information is available on the city web site for how to get agendas and supporting documents, submit written testimony and attend meetings in person, via Zoom or by phone. The regular meeting is broadcast live at 6 p.m. on KBBI public radio AM 890.