[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6602206,"mediaKeyId","3005663-60cc200b400e6f0a22e0de81bcf765d4","parentId",3005663,"title","Resident urges borough to avoid duplicating EMS service in Bear Creek, points to Seward Volunteer Ambulance reliability","audioSeconds",180,"startMs",3347000,"endMs",3527000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3005663-60cc200b400e6f0a22e0de81bcf765d4&start=3347&end=3527","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3005663-60cc200b400e6f0a22e0de81bcf765d4/thumbnail_3347000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6602206/Kenai-Peninsula-Borough/Alaska/Resident-urges-borough-to-avoid-duplicating-EMS-service-in-Bear-Creek-points-to-Seward-Volunteer-Ambulance-reliability","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6602206-4b141929e389e2bae68a74744fff4c24/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171601&Signature=XdA6J6UerrJj4l7NMAlov8ANiMHpoUPpBbKwn4M8H8UwMm4uE23Q~8yup6pYVKjfOFWqUcRpKBOyzUvtcUmMexhzfasZNhhCQSWoMIj8WC66AblU4tIYLzu0BazNn6iaeieawCc4reAtqOktCOiuq33PFLYySLLa9yJHoOP6c0xINy5A~ql1mPTpkkE-hdTjrkkQB7G3boApBF8ZSJtRsDRU72UongZyOWQmKEx3BIbAQHm173PlrLN7w9faBV9bwl6sz9~N1XDm65J7rZSS4qKIrrpv6i3woK8g3eB66i6U4JWnrF8afEm4WOISrr8Gt5CDZLSNDQEwuxHskMt0Kg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Kenai Peninsula Borough","date","2025-04-15T00:00:00Z","article","During public comment on April 15, Albie Tatum, a Bear Creek resident and member of Seward Volunteer Ambulance Corp (SVAC), urged the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly to reconsider Bear Creek Fire Department priorities, arguing the department's plan to add an ambulance and related staff would duplicate services SVAC already provides.

Tatum told the assembly SVAC is a private nonprofit (501(c)(3)) founded in 1953 that provides full‑time advanced life‑support response and transport over a wide area without taxing borough residents. He said SVAC currently operates three advanced life‑support ambulances and that the service covered multiple simultaneous calls while maintaining ALS staffing.

\"We provide all of this at no burden to the taxpayers. 0 burden to the taxpayers,\" Tatum said. He also disputed response times included in a fire department report, saying SVAC's FY24 average call-to-enroute time was \"5 minutes and 42 seconds, not the 12 minutes that Bracken put in the report.\" Tatum asked the assembly to scrutinize the facts and urged focus on gaps he said were not being addressed, such as low‑to‑high angle rope rescue, swift‑water rescue and other specialized water rescues.

Committee background
Earlier in the day the committee of the whole received presentations on several service areas, including the Bear Creek Fire Service Area and the Bear Creek Flood Service Area; Chief Bracken and Nick Chapman presented those reports. At the meeting, some officials had described perceived service gaps in Bear Creek and the department's intent to expand ambulance capacity.

Tatum questioned that prioritization for a relatively low‑call service area (he estimated roughly 50 calls per year) and urged the assembly to gather full information from all providers before approving duplicative spending.

Why it matters
The exchange highlights a local tension over how borough resources and fire‑service area budgets should be allocated: whether to invest in local ambulance capability within a fire service area or to rely on an established nonprofit ambulance provider. The borough will consider service‑area budgets and any related appropriations as part of its ongoing budget and service planning.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Kenai Peninsula Borough - Assembly on 2025-04-15 6:00 PM - Meeting ID: 835 6358 3837 Passcode: 606672 - Apr 15, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","A Bear Creek resident told the assembly that planned ambulance additions and spending by the Bear Creek Fire Department would duplicate services already provided by Seward Volunteer Ambulance Corp and urged officials to prioritize unmet rescue capabilities instead.","taxTitle","Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska","taxId",27490,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6602211,"Assembly approves consent agenda; dozens of residents urge funding schools to full cap",6836,850000,7686000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3005663-60cc200b400e6f0a22e0de81bcf765d4&start=850&end=7686","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3005663-60cc200b400e6f0a22e0de81bcf765d4/thumbnail_850000.jpg","/articles/6602211/Kenai-Peninsula-Borough/Alaska/Assembly-approves-consent-agenda-dozens-of-residents-urge-funding-schools-to-full-cap","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6602211-efe0fef354de1bfe4b603922ee354946/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171601&Signature=n0Dw-ZNbLEzj-8fYXezgmVJMdbHFufLf-m4~tfEA3ordIIR1sM84lSyY~c5HpKl1iF-YE5rui6hzJHS-ygEgoj7vUYiO7r-mwHthirmTI89JjydGNyccFbauBAS~xFYY7v9Vwp6VPR4wrReU1QIUBtJgLXoHmOo3wXQGsrehlPulMH2xRXugQDngQpggi9VbwnJc~Q0eyrwGVvE9Aefw9iB9VEKF3m~7I1uhoJ8HNrPF6JkcVcmN2-GSyN8a~v~fTBriY7lfwGH5cP5G4LBbh7ECtsBLRo6Tya~QbFFrgPUIAgvhatA3LZX0g-IlAibDOsCANwZMaZXPyCISHJ9xbg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly unanimously approved its agenda and consent agenda at the April 15 meeting in Seward, completing a package of ceremonial resolutions, ordinance introductions and other routine actions. The vote followed a lengthy public‑comment period in which many residents — parents, teachers and students — urged the assembly to \"fund to the cap\" for school funding.

Items approved on the consent agenda
The clerk read the consent agenda, which included the following items that were approved when the assembly accepted the agenda and consent agenda by unanimous consent:
- Ordinance 2024-1934: accepting and appropriating congressionally directed spending grant funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, to upgrade the mechanical and power plant at South Peninsula Hospital in Homer (sponsor: mayor). The ordinance as read was updated to include advisory board recommendations.
- Ordinance 2025-06: providing an exception to borough code to accept late‑filed FY26 senior citizen grant applications for the senior citizen program (sponsor: mayor).
- Resolution 2025-018: urging U.S. Congress and NOAA to address outages of National Data Buoy Center stations (sponsors: Morton, Dunn, Tonseth, Johnson, Eklund, Cox).
- Ordinance 2025-1935: appropriating funds for the Central Peninsula Landfill Leachate Infrastructure Improvement Project (sponsor: mayor; hearing set for May 6). Finance committee discussion referenced a request for an additional $1 million from the general fund; assembly staff noted the borough general fund balance was roughly $44 million and that the appropriation would reduce that to about $43.9 million.
- Ordinance 2025-07: amending KPB 4.10.100 (use of public funds on ballot propositions) to mirror state law (sponsor: Cox; hearing May 20).
- KPB 6823: confirming an appointment to the Planning Commission (Corina England, seat for the City of Seward; term expires 07/31/2026).

Public comment on school funding
During a 20‑minute public‑comment block, dozens of speakers urged the assembly to fully fund the borough school district to the state cap so the district could avoid program cuts. Commenters included teachers, parents and several students.

- Tara Swanson, a fifth‑grade teacher at Seward Elementary, warned that cuts to staff and programs would jeopardize best‑practice classroom sizes and hands‑on projects: \"If the assembly chooses to not fund to the cap, which is my understanding is the current plan, we are losing out on an opportunity.\"

- Dr. Erin Pierce, a first‑grade teacher and former university professor who resigned her post to teach locally, told the assembly: \"Please fund to the cap.\"

- A fifth grader, Delaney Leonardi, described participation in the Quest program for gifted students and said a loss of Quest would remove important enrichment: \"If we are not funded to the cap, Quest will most likely be 1 of the many things cut.\"

- Micah Van Muskerk, a Seward parent, outlined how even a half‑teacher reduction would eliminate programs in small schools and urged the assembly to fund the cap so the district could avoid deep cuts.

School district and mayor comments
School Board President Zen Kelly provided a procedural update to the assembly: the district finance committee was meeting and a preliminary draft budget would be delivered to the borough in advance of the May 1 statutory deadline. Mayor Michicky reiterated the borough's long‑term support for education funding and described several borough efforts, including a proposed land affordability program the administration plans to bring forward in May to prioritize borough residents in land sales; he said the borough has funded schools above the state floor in recent years and encouraged residents to press state legislators for additional support.

Actions and next steps
The assembly's adoption of the agenda and consent agenda was moved by Vice President Cooper and approved by unanimous consent; the individual ordinances and resolutions on the consent agenda will proceed as scheduled, including the landfill leachate ordinance public hearing on May 6 and other hearings noted on the agenda. Public testimony on school funding will be part of the upcoming budget cycle discussions.","The assembly approved the agenda and consent agenda unanimously on April 15, approving a hospital mechanical‑plant grant acceptance and a $1 million appropriation request for landfill leachate work, while multiple parents, teachers and students urged the borough to fund schools to the state cap.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6602216,"Assembly gives tourism working group 60 more days to finish report",347,7159000,7506000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3005663-60cc200b400e6f0a22e0de81bcf765d4&start=7159&end=7506","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3005663-60cc200b400e6f0a22e0de81bcf765d4/thumbnail_7159000.jpg","/articles/6602216/Kenai-Peninsula-Borough/Alaska/Assembly-gives-tourism-working-group-60-more-days-to-finish-report","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6602216-5d7830fc8462fe1a84e038049fea492f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171601&Signature=GWT~oPGpElC91qXx-gV9rgPqszQBpUYV2a-Do9RUPOPsrWgsnfzTPGEifAxGURscrg6VzghcOVfDYwh-egKIguLxSDqhz2QTxLqPK0x9r0KOFBKJ4oymEa-DLK34M8z2XR3L3hGo36HzbSVyDCrBgqPDjxJSRBHshmivocBuO-W2UsphcG43t-0Mj~M8g3jdRQmHPhF3XPWxqzefKD1UXMic2TwZ4QiY5T7RDQM2c9eaYPD-WGTK3UQcgUjYGmUMlINXOnVuLFobDOoh36BHjvV0rvkCegNr-TMRGUo~LSm3Ku3gPjKsxu0tOkju30SdSGxlARNakL0uyZxtoe1Pgw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted April 15 to amend and adopt a resolution extending the tourism industry working group's deadline for its final meeting and report by 60 days.

The legislative committee reported that the working group was close to completing recommendations but needed additional time. Assemblymember Tonseth summarized that the group \"weren't able to reach consensus yet\" and that an extension could help them finalize recommendations. Assemblymember Cox proposed an amendment to extend the deadline from 30 days to 60 days; Cox said one meeting in May would probably be insufficient to both discuss options and adopt a final report.

Vice President Cooper, a sponsor of the resolution, said \"this group has been great to work with. They just need a little more time, and that is why we've requested another 30 days\" — and supported extending that to 60 days after Cox's proposed amendment. The assembly approved the amendment by unanimous consent and later adopted the resolution on a roll call vote: 7 yes, 2 no (Assemblymember Eklund and Assemblymember Cox opposed).

The approved amendment moves the working group's final meeting and report deadlines into mid‑to late‑June (the resolution, as amended, set the new final report due no later than June 30, 2025). Assemblymembers emphasized that the extension is intended to give the working group time to complete recommendations rather than to change the group's scope.

Why it matters
The tourism industry working group is charged with developing recommendations intended to inform borough policy affecting tourism operators and communities across the peninsula. Extending the deadline gives the group more time to finalize recommendations that could influence tourism policy and operations for the coming year.","The Assembly approved an amendment to extend the tourism industry working group's final meeting and report deadline by 60 days, after committee members said the group needed more time to reach consensus.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6602220,"Assembly rejects request asking state to allow local caps on assessment increases",2495,4603000,7098000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3005663-60cc200b400e6f0a22e0de81bcf765d4&start=4603&end=7098","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3005663-60cc200b400e6f0a22e0de81bcf765d4/thumbnail_4603000.jpg","/articles/6602220/Kenai-Peninsula-Borough/Alaska/Assembly-rejects-request-asking-state-to-allow-local-caps-on-assessment-increases","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6602220-14d5c6efdab3aee20ef236141d7c5880/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171601&Signature=olmJXCOyatxkRTPTNhNIK3RfLk9NUpPYUSgiRdVaH6C3bLxT~pUJveIs6xmWtKbQ0EfclyuBo2IC~okmuZ7cocq9fAQUpcultP--JG~SzfStg1Y3vGnp6S9UyJ20GhsvGc74TUDdKmLJXv9EwKPV5d4-jlEAo~fWE2M7gzkEiWgzidUjFWZuyMCAy-mfQKQ8W1FoPK4jwDQFR0C0dJdK7-yLTSSx2iWJutMTrrDIK3GRCW6RTTvu6WW~EFqf16QEiuev3FKmwatQyeGdGYlkKIDmPSq5WgtpyfFCVUbFdKS0pWXbGW8BUuAKN2FlwZiqtXTZrH-9ztQqh2MnY-2ewA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted April 15 to reject a resolution asking the Alaska Legislature to give municipalities the discretionary authority to cap year‑to‑year increases in property tax assessments.

The resolution would have asked the legislature to amend state law (AS 29.45) to permit municipalities to “provide a cap or limit on real property tax assessment increases” and originally used a 5 percent threshold. Vice President Cooper offered an amendment to clarify the language — replacing the phrase \"no more than 5%\" with wording aimed at triggering the limit when assessments rise \"5% or more\" and adding an exception for assessment increases caused by new improvements. The amendment passed unanimously, but the underlying resolution failed on a 5‑to‑4 vote.

Supporters framed the request as a tool to smooth sharp valuation spikes that can create sudden tax burdens for homeowners. Vice President Cooper said the amendment \"clarifies\" that the change would be an option for municipalities and would give the assembly a tool to \"stabilize the areas that do have significant growth.\" Mayor Michicky told the assembly, \"Alaska municipalities are trapped. We can do nothing about assessing differently. I'm asking for the ability to limit that growth.\" He described historic valuation volatility and said the measure was intended to be an optional tool, not a mandatory policy.

Opponents argued the option could shift tax burdens across demographics and cohorts over time. Assemblymember Johnson said he had reviewed examples from other jurisdictions and warned that \"in every one of the scenarios that I researched and that Mr. Cox researched, there are some very bad down factors to those.\" He and other critics said a cap could disadvantage younger or recent homebuyers because the tax burden could shift to people who buy property later.

Assembly debate touched on technical details: whether capped properties could be \"caught up\" over a multiyear period, how quickly valuations might return to market parity, and whether the borough's existing exemptions and sales‑tax revenue already shift the tax burden. Assemblymember Morton illustrated how annual caps compound, noting that a 5 percent annual cap would amount to roughly a 21.6 percent increase over four years if the cap applied each year and would affect how quickly a parcel with a sudden jump could return to market parity.

Vote and next steps
The amendment to the resolution (clarifying the 5 percent threshold language and adding the exception for improvements) passed unanimously. When the assembly voted on the resolution itself the roll call produced four yes votes (Cooper, Tonseth, Morton and Basden) and five no votes (Johnson, Dunn, Eklund, Cox, and President Rivens). The motion failed. No ordinance or change to borough code was enacted; the matter remains a policy option that could be revisited if the legislature proposes relevant statutory language.

Why it matters
Assembly members and the mayor described the proposal as a possible way to blunt sharp year‑to‑year valuation spikes — an issue several residents raised during public testimony at the meeting — but opponents cautioned about unintended distributional effects and urged more numerical modeling and ordinance drafting before permitting such an option. If the state does consider legislation, the assembly would still need to craft local ordinance language to define triggers, catch‑up rules and other implementation details.","After extended debate and an amendment to clarify language, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted 5-4 on April 15 to reject a resolution urging the Alaska Legislature to allow municipalities the option to cap year-to-year property-assessment increases.","actionData","errors"]

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