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Assembly presentation: Anchorage has roughly $15 billion in tax‑exempt property, many records need updating
Summary
Presenters told the Anchorage Assembly that fully exempt property totals about $15,000,000,000 and flagged a backlog of roughly 650 records needing review; staff said documentation gaps — not presumed wrongdoing — explain most cases and proposed code and staffing changes to speed reviews.
Presenters to the Anchorage Assembly said the municipality currently holds just over $15,000,000,000 in exempt property, or roughly one‑quarter of the city’s total assessed value.
“We have just over $15,000,000,000 worth of exempt property, which is roughly about 0.25 of the total value for the municipality of Anchorage,” the assessor’s office reported. The presentation divided exemptions into fully exempt (government, most federal/state holdings and many charitables) and partially exempt categories that include capped reliefs.
Staff emphasized that most cases flagged for review appear to stem from missing or outdated documentation rather than an assumption of noncompliance. As the acting lead on the project put it, the department found many older files in paper cabinets and established a two‑prong test: verify an eligible charitable purpose and confirm the property’s current qualifying use.
The report identified about 100 high‑priority fully exempt records and roughly 550 medium‑priority cases needing attention. Staff said they have reviewed about 80 of the top 100 and so far documented one failure to submit required paperwork and one late submission; the majority require updated documents to “absolutely prove the exemption exists.”
The presentation concluded that updating records and digitizing old files through the appraisal software (CAMA) will be essential to modernization, and that most of the work reflects a record‑keeping gap created by system and staffing constraints rather than intentional tax avoidance.
Looking ahead, staff recommended continuing the prioritized review, improving applicant guidance, and increasing the division’s audit capacity so the municipality can complete its reviews more quickly.
