Finance committee holds public hearings on multiple ordinances including election-publication costs, school capital and ballot education funding

The Kenai Peninsula Borough finance committee on Aug. 19 took public comment and heard presentations on several ordinances and introductions covering election-publication costs, school capital projects, recorded state payments toward the borough’s PERS liability, and proposed funding for voter-information materials.

Publishing citizen initiatives: President Ribbons presented ordinance 20-25-19-03 to appropriate $6,500 from the general fund to cover publication costs for citizen initiative ordinances. Borough staff told the committee the clerk’s election notice for one proposition (Prop 1) came in with fewer pages than expected and that the $6,500 estimate covers the required publication; the clerk also said the election notice will include Proposition 5. Committee members raised whether additional funds will be needed if more measures are added to the ballot; the clerk said she does not foresee increasing the amount for the current ordinance.

Seward High School gym floor: The committee heard ordinance 20-25-19-04, introduced by the mayor, to appropriate $207,000 from the school capital project fund toward Seward High School’s gym-floor replacement. Staff said the $207,000 would be combined with prior appropriations of about $110,000 for a project cost of approximately $317,400.

State payment on PERS liabilities: Ordinance 20-24-19-41 would record in-kind fiscal-year 2025 expenditures paid by the State of Alaska, through the Department of Administration Division of Retirement and Benefits, on behalf of the borough toward its unfunded PERS liability. Borough staff confirmed the amount to be recorded is roughly $1,200,000.

School maintenance de-obligation and pools: Assemblymembers Dunn and Johnson introduced ordinance 20-25-19-07 to de-obligate $200,000 from in-kind school-maintenance funds and reallocate it to school operations with the intent — as framed by sponsors — of keeping swimming pools in Seldovia and Ilchik open for the current fiscal year. Dunn and Johnson told the committee they plan to withdraw the ordinance before public hearing and instead pursue a lay-down resolution urging the school board to reallocate funds internally. The sponsors said the resolution will be considered in the committee process; no committee vote on the ordinance occurred.

Commercial passenger-vessel tax effective date: The mayor’s office introduced ordinance 20-25-19-08 to amend a prior ordinance and change the effective date for commercial passenger-vessel (CPV) tax proceeds distributed to Seward and Homer from May 21 to May 1, to accommodate eligible expenses. Borough staff said Seward has a resolution in place authorizing shuttle services funded by CPV receipts.

Ballot-information funding: Vice President Cooper introduced ordinance 20-25-19-09 to approve use of funds for distributing informational and promotional materials about Ballot Proposition 1 (a proposal to require hand counting of in-person ballots on election day). The clerk reported a quote from the vendor of $16,500 for Proposition 1. The clerk said it would be possible to amend the ordinance at public hearing to add a second proposition but that she wanted a final scope from the vendor before committing to a combined appropriation at the Sept. 2 public hearing.

No final votes were recorded on these items in the finance committee meeting. Several items were marked eligible for the consent agenda; a sponsor indicated an intent to withdraw one ordinance to pursue a resolution instead. Committee members emphasized ensuring accurate cost estimates and allowing time for vendor quotes and public notice.

Why this matters: the ordinances address immediate administrative costs (publication and voter education), capital maintenance for school facilities, and how the borough records state-provided payments toward retirement liabilities — all of which affect budgets and public services at the borough level.