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Skagway Assembly adopts amended FY25 changes and approves FY26 budget, reallocating CPV funds to cover clinic shortfall
Summary
The Skagway Assembly on Dec. 4 amended an FY25 ordinance and adopted the FY26 budget with several changes, applying a 68% commercial passenger vessel (CPV) funding share toward a roughly $1.68M clinic shortfall and adding new capital and service items.
The Skagway Assembly voted Dec. 4 to amend ordinance 25‑14 and adopt ordinance 25‑13 as the municipality's FY26 budget after two rounds of amendments that reallocated funds to cover an updated clinic shortfall.
Vice Mayor Assembly member Potter moved the amendment and framed it as a way to apply the CPV funding formula to urgent clinic needs. "If you would like to apply 68% CPV, 32% sales tax to the full amendment for the clinic, table 2 does that," the manager explained when the assembly asked for clarification of the spreadsheet options. Potter told the table he was “very confident that this is an appropriate use of CPV funding,” citing increased emergency‑care costs driven by cruise passengers.
Manager Deach told the assembly the clinic's budget amendment grew from earlier estimates to just under $1,700,000 and that Table 2 in the packet shows one way to apportion the amount using a 68% CPV share. The assembly approved the Potter amendment to ordinance 25‑14 (roll call recorded as 5 yes) and then proceeded to the FY26 budget, replacing the ordinance on the table with the packet’s amended spreadsheet (referred to as 7a4b).
Key amendments included restoring $50,000 for a port office remodel, adding about $54,325 for an IT contract technology specialist, removing a wave‑barrier project from the CIP list, and adding $27,500 from sales‑tax funds for Garden City RV Park upgrades (washers/dryers and site amenities). Assembly members also emphasized continued funding for the school and capital projects such as wastewater treatment upgrades and rock‑slide mitigation.
On final roll call for the twice‑amended FY26 budget, the motion passed with five yes votes. Members warned the $1.6–$1.7M clinic change order was a substantial year‑end ask and urged better early communication and oversight from the clinic board and staff to avoid late large amendments in future budget cycles.
The assembly did not raise the municipal sales‑tax rate at the meeting; members noted a prior ballot defeat of a sales‑tax increase and said that maintaining services without raising the rate will require continued scrutiny of priorities.
What happens next: The FY26 budget, as amended, will guide municipal spending for the coming year; staff will finalize spreadsheets and return any engineer or committee clarifications in subsequent meetings.
