Assembly debate sets a floor for school funding as mayor's proposed FY26 budget is presented

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Finance Committee on Wednesday heard the mayor's proposed fiscal year 2026 budget and considered Resolution 2025-021, which sets the minimum local contribution the borough will provide toward the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District's (KPBSD) preliminary budget.

Brandy Harbaugh, the borough's finance director, told the committee the school district submitted a proposed total budget of $157,041,526 and that the resolution before the assembly would set the statutory floor — the minimum local amount the borough must make available — at $57,634,015. "This is an annual resolution that we as the borough bring forward, per statute," Harbaugh said, adding the district has until May 1 to request funding and the borough then has 30 days to respond.

Why it matters: education consumes the bulk of the borough general fund and rising assessed values are rapidly increasing the local share of school funding. Harbaugh showed that assessed values have risen significantly in recent years and said the borough currently provides near-cap funding compared with similar Alaska boroughs; she warned that continuing to fund to the legal cap would push local taxpayers' obligations higher and could require mill-rate increases over…