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Sitka Assembly trims budget proposals, cutting two police vehicles to narrow FY27 deficit
Summary
At a March 25 special meeting the Sitka Assembly reviewed the draft FY2027 general fund budget, heard staff present a revised deficit of $883,250 and approved a package of cuts — including eliminating two police interceptors — and other scaled-back resource proposals to reduce the shortfall.
The Sitka Assembly convened a special meeting on March 25, 2026, to review the draft fiscal year 2027 general fund budget and take initial actions to narrow a reported deficit.
Brooke, the assembly’s finance staff member, presented the draft and told the body the total projected budgeted revenue for FY27 is $45,600,000 and that sales tax represents 44.4 percent of the general fund while property tax is about 19.6 percent. Brooke said staff had corrected several minor errors and that after small reallocations the revised draft deficit stood at $883,250.
Why it matters: the deficit is driven mainly by a projected increase in the city’s health-insurance costs, higher school-support expenditures and larger sinking-fund payments for vehicles and equipment; staff and some members also flagged uncertainty in sales-tax receipts and timing for Secure Rural Schools payments as factors that complicate planning.
The assembly moved quickly into deliberations on resource proposals. Mayor Eisenbeis moved to remove two planned police interceptors from the resource-proposal list, saying the decision was one way to narrow the shortfall. The motion was seconded and, after discussion including comments about vehicle lifespan and public-safety needs, the body adopted that cut. "I would move to eliminate 2 police interceptors from the resource proposals," the mayor said before the motion was seconded and adopted.
Members also debated a $40,000 City Hall door-security project; a motion to scale the project back to $20,000 was moved and recorded in the transcript as failing. The assembly voted to reduce a proposed $65,000 zoning-code update package by $15,000 to $50,000, and it approved trimming the capital project delivery manual and standardized-contract-templates request from $100,000 to $90,000. The assembly also removed $250,000 for athletic-field sand from the grounds-maintenance operating budget. Those measures, along with the interceptor cut and other reallocations, reduced the gap by roughly half during the meeting.
School funding and timing were recurring concerns. Phil Burdick of the Sitka School District told the assembly the district faces severe choices if state and federal supports do not materialize; he said that in the district’s most constrained scenario staff reductions would be necessary and described the human and programmatic impacts. Brooke and other staff explained that Sitka recently received a makeup Secure Rural Schools payment (about $577,000) and that appropriation decisions would be brought to the assembly when staff could confirm amounts and timing.
Next steps: staff said they will meet the next day with the city’s health-insurance broker and return to the assembly with updated health-rate information; the assembly scheduled another general-fund-focused meeting following the April 16 enterprise-fund session. Staff also said they will continue to work through resource proposals and transfers to identify additional reductions or reassignments before the budget’s first reading in May.
Votes at a glance - Remove two police interceptors from resource proposals: moved by Mayor Eisenbeis; passed (transcript tally reported as 4–1). - Scale back City Hall door-security project from $40,000 to $20,000: motion recorded in the transcript as failing (tally reported as 3–2). - Reduce zoning-code update and high-priority code amendments from $65,000 to $50,000: passed 5–0. - Reduce capital project delivery manual/templates request from $100,000 to $90,000: passed 5–0. - Remove $250,000 for athletic-field sand from grounds maintenance operating budget: passed 5–0. - Award FY26 special emergency nonprofit grant of $5,000 to Sitka All Terrain Riders for snow removal assistance: passed 5–0.
The assembly recessed briefly after the evening’s votes to allow staff time to reconcile numbers and to gather further information; members asked staff to return with revised options and with firm health-insurance-rate information to inform remaining decisions before the budget adoption process continues.
