Staff report
Who pays for the new roads, schools and solid waste facilities necessary when a big project like the Alaska gasline comes to town? That’s one of the tough questions in front of the state legislature at its special session this month. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed to exempt the proposed gasline from local property taxes as a way to promote financing and construction of the project. Such a tax break would have a big impact on the Kenai Peninsula Borough, home to the proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Nikiski.
The North Slope Borough, for one, is pushing to keep local property tax authority. But Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor Peter Micciche — a former official with Conoco Phillips as well as a former state senator — is supporting an alternative approach that would provide up-front impact funds from the state and, later, a share of a tax on the volume of gas moved from the North Slope.
He said that alternative would mean substantially less income for the borough than the existing property tax, but it would help get the line built and bring other benefits, such as cheaper gas for consumers and the possible reopening of the former Unocal ammonia plant in Nikiski.
“We are clearly the most impacted community if this project goes forward,” Micciche told the House Finance Committee two weeks ago. “We’re simply trying to make sure our costs are covered.”
From the Alaska Beacon, CLICK HERE for a fresh look at the key questions about the gasline that state legislators hope to resolve in the next week or so.
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