Fairbanks North Star Borough administration presents $206.97 million FY2026 budget, plans $9.5 million draw from reserves

Mayor Bryce Hopkins and Chief Financial Officer Joanne Pascoe presented the Fairbanks North Star Borough's proposed fiscal year 2026 budget at the Assembly Finance Committee meeting on April 3, recommending a $206,974,740 comprehensive budget for the period July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, and an estimated area-wide mill rate of 10.887 mills.

The mayor's message included a pledge that "The FY26 budget maintains current levels of service while staying within the borough's tax revenue cap," and Pascoe told the assembly the recommended plan includes a general fund contribution to balance the budget. "We are taking a $9,500,000 draw from fund balance to balance the budget," Pascoe said during the question-and-answer session.

Why it matters: The package would raise the area-wide mill rate 0.288 mills from FY2025 and represents a roughly 5% increase in the overall FY2026 budget compared with the FY2025 approved budget. The proposal also increases the borough's direct contribution to local education to $60,000,000 from $58,000,000 in FY2025 and relies on a draw from reserves to balance projected revenues and expenditures.

Key figures and proposals - Recommended comprehensive budget (excluding service areas and grants):…