[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-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],{"_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",6586300,"mediaKeyId","5547800-21a46b890961de698598b65f4a1f95f1","parentId",5547800,"title","Votes at a glance: Mat-Su Assembly actions Aug. 5, 2025 — tax-cap ordinance, public-land requests and other items","audioSeconds",888,"startMs",9971000,"endMs",10859000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5547800-21a46b890961de698598b65f4a1f95f1&start=9971&end=10859","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5547800-21a46b890961de698598b65f4a1f95f1/thumbnail_9971000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6586300/Matanuska-Susitna-Borough/Alaska/Votes-at-a-glance-Mat-Su-Assembly-actions-Aug-5-2025-tax-cap-ordinance-public-land-requests-and-other-items","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6586300-c3c3a38ad5321550d63edc5a3626373f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770427126&Signature=m~qdI21~S3ayM82wQZTVfPP0G4njQloGMFXTu6MTWy1gfb-F2L1v6bJ65HJ7KgpcZv5LsEirTBU6pgz2C~A6tqH-ZjFDNJrh-GLQDRL1-d0NQfLODqiDdm3dT38SBKbC39iutr~x5s4DlUhFTpKAtM2o1-L6DoqJacmw7DTZ97oNlnNUwChWLKVBooKpZ6WeLQPFmOOy9vB4KckvZcNYvmMqdTBg7f1Yqsy1zxx5SRNLmvzHaiVddgRxDrRkVHbgyVA3VRqigHB1ptVBG9IESEcQq~o~PYAMi0rPAjJtP3UQ~idvKctY4s5EgDRmrdrrTtZJF2-fYyQiHZEXzDtu2w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Matanuska-Susitna Borough","date","2025-08-07T01:05:27.423Z","article","Highlights from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly meeting on Aug. 5, 2025, including final votes and staff actions taken by the assembly.

Key votes and outcomes

- Ordinance 25-081 (tax cap): Adopted as amended. The assembly approved a boroughwide tax-cap ordinance that sets an area-wide real-property tax cap at 9.5 mills (primary amendment from 10 to 9.5 passed) and reduces the non-area-wide cap to 0.50 mills (secondary amendment). Sponsors: Assemblymembers Sumner, Fonoff and Bernier.

- Ordinance 25-082 (naming): Adopted. The assembly approved naming the Story Walk Pathway at the Sutton Library in honor of Nancy Bertels (sponsor: Assemblymember Tim Hale).

- Ordinance 25-084 (senior/disabled-veteran proration): Adopted. The assembly approved placing before voters a change allowing prorated senior and disabled-veteran residential real-property tax exemption when a qualifying individual moves midyear; sponsors noted this change must be voter-approved under state statute.

- Ordinance 25-054 (Bogart Corridor access management plan): Adopted as amended. The assembly adopted the plan and accompanying maps and narrative as amended (planning commission and staff materials update referenced in IMs); a post-adoption planning referral was recorded for staff follow-up.

- Ordinance 25-076 (motor-fuel excise tax): Not adopted; advisory ballot question added. The assembly approved an amendment to place an advisory, nonbinding 7¢/gallon motor-fuel excise tax question on the Nov. 2025 ballot, changed the advisory allocation to 50% property-tax relief / 50% voter-approved road projects, and continued the ordinance to Dec. 2 for additional public engagement and final action.

- Consent agenda (contracts and procurement): Approved. The assembly approved multiple contract awards and memoranda of agreement through the consent agenda including construction contracts for road and fish-passage projects, purchase orders for sodium chloride and fuel supply, and project-specific agreements with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities for pathway and road projects. Specific contract awards include (selected): Meyer Excavation LLC contract conclusion (24-110B); Meyer contract amounts and bid awards to K and H Civil, Dirt Works Inc., Western Construction and Equipment LLC and others as read into the record.

Other procedural actions

- A set of mayoral appointments and resignation confirmations were approved as presented in the vacancy report.
- Several ordinance referrals to the planning commission were approved for study (including proposed MSB 17.77 Large Lot District ordinance 25-090 and related amendments) with 90-day referrals where noted.

Why it matters: The tax-cap ordinance sets a ceiling that the assembly said will require four votes to exceed in future budgets, adding a structural restraint. The senior-exemption proration is intended to reduce a timing penalty for qualifying homeowners who sell and move midyear. The advisory fuel-tax question puts the policy choice directly before voters this November while allowing time for additional public outreach and a final assembly decision in December.

Where to find documents: Staff reports, the informational memoranda and contract documents referenced during the meeting are available in the assembly packet and the borough’s informational memoranda list.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Regular Assembly Meeting - August 5th, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The assembly approved a municipal tax cap and several ordinances and contract awards, adopted a naming ordinance and enacted a voter-submitted senior-exemption change; it also approved consent-agenda contracts and continued the proposed fuel excise tax ordinance to Dec. 2.","taxTitle","Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska","taxId",14460,"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},6586305,"Scientists, Fish & Wildlife Commission ask Mat-Su Assembly to classify borough parcels as watershed lands to protect Deshka River cold-water refugia",1003,783000,1786000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5547800-21a46b890961de698598b65f4a1f95f1&start=783&end=1786","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5547800-21a46b890961de698598b65f4a1f95f1/thumbnail_783000.jpg","/articles/6586305/Matanuska-Susitna-Borough/Alaska/Scientists-Fish-Wildlife-Commission-ask-Mat-Su-Assembly-to-classify-borough-parcels-as-watershed-lands-to-protect-Deshka-River-cold-water-refugia","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6586305-0da6cf391f68008fee2df08961565f16/orig.mp4?Expires=1770427126&Signature=SXae6cauc1OXO1v~qWpbkfLMMfbuWwo~w9dM4g6RNvnJRWM6gO8bH5yBwpacQ3N96EqtCEunttI1y1hXRBGoKwaFBAg-NEG~S-qtCU6bjDUQtf~-feVIOlJbp6v1rwbDVkN5I2fRBctdr~WqNTifS57tR6UAN92iThZ-ipUeDDgqyQODHS2GzUVU-n-872Hh9Fhxv1NYFCptpvECZnwh5-0Mc7n~~nWV06i2IRphXBc7ZWT8pt9~xSDbFYH1SL7pN~U2LsQ0Bpx2QMP~KANJdf6kW5M6yzy~9kgd-sfr2QphFu-Y6~19bVeGiVvKbBbJM7JHLnRgiSQuq2b8AZKcOA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","A scientist who led temperature monitoring and mapping work on streams across Cook Inlet told the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly on Aug. 5 that the Deshka River system contains extensive groundwater-fed cold-water refugia that are important for Chinook salmon and other fish. The presenter asked the assembly to direct the borough planning department to classify 13 borough-owned parcels as watershed lands to help preserve those inflows.

Presenter context and findings: Sue Mogher (former science director and keeper at a local research organization) told the assembly she and partners have recorded long-term stream-temperature trends across the Mat-Su Basin and used aerial thermal mapping and ground-truthing to locate more than 250 groundwater inflows in the Deshka mainstem. She said some parts of the Deshka currently reach or exceed 20°C (68°F)—a state water-quality threshold—during warm summers and that 2019’s heat produced temperatures comparable to or warmer than model projections for mid-century.

Mogher described how thermal mapping shows the Deshka cooling downstream because many groundwater-fed inflows lower main-channel temperatures, creating cold-water refugia that juvenile and migrating salmon use. She said 13 borough parcels contain refugia and that classifying those parcels as “watershed lands” in borough land-classification code would place nonregulatory markers on borough records that remind future decision-makers of those values. Mogher told the assembly: “This is what I'm bringing you tonight ... many years of conversation, and research ... trying to understand how best to bring science, our local science, … to some kind of conservation outcome.”

Request to assembly: Mogher and supporters asked that the assembly direct the planning department to proceed with classification of the 13 borough parcels and noted that the Fish & Wildlife Commission had adopted a supporting resolution. An assembly member thanked her for the field work and asked questions about whether low snowpack contributed to high summer temperatures; Mogher replied that by July the snow signal is gone and landscape factors determine summer temperatures.

Why it matters: The Deshka River historically supported Chinook runs important for local anglers and subsistence; warming stream temperatures can block upstream migration and reduce survival. Classifying borough-owned parcels as watershed lands would not itself impose new private land use restrictions, but supporters said it would add policy context for future decisions about borough lands that touch these refugia.

Next steps: Mogher concluded by asking for formal direction to the planning department to pursue the classification. The assembly expressed support and the mayor indicated the request would be forwarded to the planning department for action. Staff and commission documents referenced in the presentation are available in the meeting packet and informational memoranda.

Ending: The assembly heard the presentation, asked clarifying questions about drivers of stream warming, and accepted the commission’s request to direct the planning department to pursue reclassification of the identified borough parcels.

","A presenter summarized 20 years of temperature monitoring and mapping on the Deshka River, asked the assembly to direct staff to reclassify 13 borough parcels as watershed lands to help protect cold-water inflows that provide salmon refugia, and the assembly indicated support for sending the request to the planning department.",{"_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},6586310,"Mat-Su Assembly advances advisory ballot question on 7¢ motor-fuel excise tax after weeks of debate; ordinance continued to December",1826,2030000,3856000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5547800-21a46b890961de698598b65f4a1f95f1&start=2030&end=3856","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5547800-21a46b890961de698598b65f4a1f95f1/thumbnail_2030000.jpg","/articles/6586310/Matanuska-Susitna-Borough/Alaska/Mat-Su-Assembly-advances-advisory-ballot-question-on-7-motor-fuel-excise-tax-after-weeks-of-debate-ordinance-continued-to-December","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6586310-5ec0f556682583573224bd75198fa9ae/orig.mp4?Expires=1770427126&Signature=N45IXrKtbPwE~HZKbyhnNj0A4~vG8Ckeruf8TQHdUze4rszycibxIgidHZVI9Hi7EvqYCGGKH1IdaRq7jFxgug~9yFVXDojFgPW37zPvRsEM7Pavh6izJ3vZbDuzg8Ru4eFXAvapvhVCob8uobQ~i~BZt7~RiNDcNPPYo~vbjYFPj5Q988QBhHHiTU8pvNHZ1SL-U5aJxh6IAjhNCbLhrNHeSjcTkm2VC3t~Llyqzs1oCkdK~abK1CGPgxk9rqxb~qqjw8ICs8q1Ng8dTw1nWuRH0PWvV8UrDLyyvDPq6~NZjjdizXbLO2HTv3DxC6PlQRm5vU0Y4HIQj-bKH83Gdw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly voted on multiple amendments to a proposed 7¢ per-gallon motor-fuel excise tax ordinance on Aug. 5, approving an amendment to place an advisory question about the tax on the November ballot, adopting a change to the proposed revenue allocation and continuing final consideration of the ordinance until the assembly’s Dec. 2 meeting.

The advisory ballot amendment, moved by Assemblymember Stephanie Nowers and described to the assembly as nonbinding, would ask voters whether the borough should adopt a 7¢ motor-fuel tax for a 1½-year trial period and direct the borough manager to propose budgets that allocate 30% of revenue to reduce property taxes and 70% to voter-approved road projects. Nowers told the assembly, “My amendment is to place this on the ballot for an advisory vote in November.”

The assembly then amended the advisory language to change the proposed allocation, with Assemblymember Maxwell Sumner successfully proposing a 50/50 split between property-tax reduction and voter-approved road projects. Sumner said the change would frame the question voters would consider about how any revenue should be spent. The 50/50 amendment passed; the record shows Assemblymember Dee McKee voted against that change.

Members then voted to continue formal action on the underlying ordinance (Ordinance 25-076) until the assembly meeting on Dec. 2, 2025, allowing additional public engagement between now and the ballot. The assembly also recorded the primary advisory-amendment vote as passing with two members opposed (Assemblymember Dimitri Fonoff and Assemblymember Tim Hale).

Why it matters: The fuel excise tax would create a revenue source that proponents say could reduce pressure on property taxes and provide up-front funding for road projects without selling more bonds. Opponents described the tax as regressive and warned it would raise costs for commuters and for goods moved by diesel trucks, which would affect grocery and building costs. The debate exposed sharp disagreement among residents and assembly members about how to pay for repairs and expansions of roads across a borough that has grown rapidly in recent decades.

What the assembly discussed: Proponents and several assembly members stressed two recurring points: (1) the tax would capture contributions from non-resident drivers who use Mat-Su roads, and (2) a limited-duration excise tax with explicit accounting and a sunset clause might build public trust. Opponents — including many people who spoke during audience participation — argued the borough should first find internal cuts or other revenue sources (marijuana, alcohol, or other excises were suggested) and that a fuel tax would disproportionately affect low-income households, seniors and commuters.

Public engagement and next steps: Dozens of residents testified during the public-comment period, the majority urging rejection of a gax tax and asking the assembly to find cuts in the budget first. Borough staff and the manager offered to hold town-hall meetings before the election to explain rate scenarios and bond versus tax trade-offs. The assembly left the ordinance itself open for amendment and final vote at its Dec. 2 meeting but directed staff to place the advisory question on the Nov. ballot as amended.

What the advisory question says (as read in the meeting): the advisory question would ask whether the borough should adopt a 7¢ per-gallon motor-fuel tax for 1½ years, automatically ending after that period, and would estimate it to generate roughly $5 million annually. The advisory language included a recommended allocation of revenue; the assembly changed that allocation in its amendment to 50% for property-tax reduction and 50% for voter-approved road projects.

Budget context: Assembly and staff discussed the difficulty of producing precise revenue or taxpayer-impact estimates for a fuel excise tax because Mat-Su lacks a historical local fuel-excise dataset; staff used DMV registration data and other proxies for projections and said the borough would use a short initial term and accounting transparency to evaluate actual collections before committing long-term.

Ending: The assembly’s amendments mean voters will see a nonbinding question about a 7¢ fuel excise tax on the November ballot, with the ordinance itself returned to the assembly’s agenda for final action on Dec. 2. The debate highlighted competing priorities for borough revenue — reducing property-tax pressure, funding roads, limiting bond financing costs, and protecting low-income and rural households from regressive charges.

","The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly approved an amendment to put a proposed 7¢ per-gallon motor-fuel excise tax on the November advisory ballot, adopted a tied 50/50 revenue-allocation amendment and continued formal action on the ordinance to the first meeting in December.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Votes at a glance: Mat-Su Assembly actions Aug. 5, 2025 — tax-cap ordinance, public-land requests and other items

Scientists, Fish & Wildlife Commission ask Mat-Su Assembly to classify borough parcels as watershed lands to protect Deshka River cold-water refugia

Mat-Su Assembly advances advisory ballot question on 7¢ motor-fuel excise tax after weeks of debate; ordinance continued to December