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Kodiak Island Borough begins budget season with detailed briefing on MAPTR and revenue pressures
Summary
Assembly received an educational briefing on MAPTR (maximum allowable property tax revenue), heard multiple residents urge retaining the tax cap to protect affordability, and discussed options including amendment, repeal, or ballot referral as school funding and falling severance taxes tighten next year's budget.
The Kodiak Island Borough on Jan. 29 held an in-depth, staff-led briefing on the borough—tax cap, known in code as MAPTR (maximum allowable property tax revenue), and the revenue outlook heading into the FY27 budget cycle.
Madam Manager Amy told the assembly the session—was meant to be educational and walked through how MAPTR is calculated under borough code (adjusted prior-year levy plus capped adjustments for inflation, prior-year true-ups and taxes on new construction) and which funds are and are not included. She said staff used the Alaska Consumer Price Index for inflation adjustments and noted the borough's severance-tax revenue has declined sharply in recent years, increasing fiscal pressure.
Residents and callers during the public-comment period urged the assembly to keep MAPTR in place. Tanya Kitka, a lifelong borough resident, said MAPTR helps keep year-to-year property-tax increases manageable and cautioned removing it would worsen housing affordability and accelerate out-migration. "MAPTR ensures the increase of our individual property taxes from one year to the next will not be as much of a shock," she said. Other callers, including Ryan Sherritt and Justin Thrawn, voiced similar warnings about pushing taxes to the maximum allowed.
Assembly members pressed staff on the practical consequences of keeping or amending MAPTR. The manager said the Kodiak Island Borough School District is preparing a budget request near the upper bound of what MAPTR would allow (staff referenced a district ask in the range of about $14.3 million to $14.6 million), which will shape what the borough can afford. Staff also emphasized that state-mandated assessment methods drive much of the growth in assessed values, and that higher assessed values can raise tax bills even when the mill rate declines.
Members discussed options including amending MAPTR to limit year-over-year mill-rate increases, temporarily removing the cap by assembly vote, or placing a change before voters in a future election. Several members asked staff to model different scenarios so the assembly can see trade-offs between services, school funding, and tax levels during the upcoming budget deliberations; staff indicated department-by-department budget reviews will begin the following week and the assembly must adopt a budget by June 10.
The manager said staff would return with clearer revenue projections, including updated severance-tax forecasts and the effect of the school district—request, to inform the assembly's decisions. For now, the session provided the assembly and the public with a technical explanation of MAPTR and an early warning that the district's planned request will constrain choices in the FY27 budget cycle.
