Anchorage Assembly members used a Nov. work session to lay out a package of amendments aimed at trimming the municipality's 2026 operating budget, proposing a mix of small line-item reductions and larger structural changes.

The package, presented in grouped form by a sponsoring member, included three buckets of proposals: nonessential operational cuts (travel, furniture, memberships), removing or reassigning funded but persistently unrecruited position control numbers (PCNs), and eliminating what the sponsor described as duplicative services — most notably funding for staff supporting the local Equal Rights Commission and the Office of Equity and Justice (OEJ).

"If we're facing a fiscal cliff ... maybe it's time to tighten the belt," the amendment sponsor said, describing travel and office refurbishment cuts as "surgical" savings. On the larger proposal to reclaim funded but unrecruited PCNs, the sponsor argued those positions are often not being recruited for and therefore the money could be repurposed.

OMB director (spokesperson) told the Assembly the initial list of persistently vacant, funded PCNs was eight positions with a combined budget impact of about $850,000. Staff said the municipality used a 24-month nonrecruitment threshold to create the list and recommended additional 6- and 12-month analyses before making permanent cuts.

"That list will be longer" with shorter timeframes, the administration cautioned, and stressed there are multiple PCN categories — grant-funded positions, placeholders for bond projects, and roles in reclassification — that require careful review.

The sponsor also proposed eliminating OEJ staffing, arguing much of OEJ's reporting and demographic analysis duplicates work done inside Human Resources and the state-level Equal Rights Commission. In response, other members asked for legal and charter analysis before removing funding for a commission referenced in the municipal charter. The chair asked municipal legal counsel to provide an analysis of any minimum charter obligations for a local Equal Rights Commission and its staffing.

Multiple members also urged the Assembly to schedule a fuller, assembly-led review of the branch budget and pay parity questions rather than only addressing continuation budget entries during the work session.

No votes were recorded in the work session transcript; several sponsors said they would refine amendments, coordinate with OMB on numbers and packaging, and consider omnibus or grouped approaches when the body takes amendments up on the floor.