Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
05/01/2007 01:30 PM Senate TRANSPORTATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB136|| HB185 | |
| SJR7 | |
| HJR18 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| = | SB 136 | ||
| HB 185 | |||
| * | SJR 7 | ||
| HJR 18 | |||
SB 136-MUNICIPAL ROAD SERVICE AREAS
CSHB 185(CRA)-MUNICIPAL ROAD SERVICE AREAS
CHAIR KOOKESH announced the consideration of SB 136.
GRIER HOPKINS, staff to Senator Thomas, sponsor of SB 136, said
that the bill would be substituted by its partner bill from the
other body, HB 185.
CHAIR KOOKESH asked if a committee substitute would be
introduced to combine the two bills.
MR. HOPKINS said that he hadn't heard so.
CHAIR KOOKESH announced the committee would hear SB 136 and HB
185 simultaneously. He didn't intend to move either today.
SENATOR COWDERY commented that the House bill would be more
appropriately dealt with.
CHAIR KOOKESH agreed.
1:35:24 PM
CAROL BEECHER, staff to Representative Coghill, sponsor of HB
185, said the bill provides boroughs with a means of altering
existing road service area boundaries to ensure taxpayer
fairness among residents of service areas. A service area is a
taxing jurisdiction within a borough that has been established
to provide special services such as road maintenance or fire
protection. These services are requested and approved by voters
residing within a specific area. State law permits borough
residents living outside a service area to use service area
roads for their sole or legally required access. These residents
derive a direct benefit equal to residents within the service
area, yet they can refuse to contribute to the costs of
construction or maintenance of these roads by voting down any
annexation attempt. These state mandated annexation votes
typically fail as individuals are reluctant to join a service
area when they can instead use these maintained roads for free.
HB 185 amends state law by allowing a service area to annex
property that uses its roads for their sole or legally required
access without a separate vote of the property to be annexed. A
second issue arises where residents of a service area are
required to pay into a service area even though they do not
utilize the service area roads for access to their property.
Service areas, however, are often reluctant to vote to remove
property from the service area because it effectively raises
taxes on the remaining property owners. HB 185 amends state law
by allowing a borough assembly to exercise its judgment to
alter, by ordinance, a service area boundary to exclude a
property that does not use service area roads as its sole or
legally required access.
1:37:26 PM
SENATOR COWDERY asked if the last paragraph of the bill means
that the borough can make a ruling on the issue.
MS. BEECHER replied yes, and referenced a part of the bill that
will allow a property owner not using the service area roads to
be removed from the area so as to not pay for a service they're
not using.
SENATOR COWDERY replied that the issue seems to be creating a
statewide law to address a local problem.
MS. BEECHER replied that Anchorage has reported similar
problems.
1:38:59 PM
SENATOR OLSON asked if other areas of the state were having
similar problems with the service areas.
MS. BEECHER replied that other districts were having issues of
the same sort.
SENATOR OLSON asked for the bill's effect on commercial road
users.
1:39:46 PM
MS. BEECHER said that if a property is not using the service
area as a sole or legally required access, they could petition
to be removed from the area.
CHAIR KOOKESH asked if there is any opposition to the bill.
MS. BEECHER replied that there was someone in the audience who
wanted to testify.
1:40:39 PM
SANDRA WILSON, representing herself, said that the bill is
unfair; it bases the amount people pay for their road services
on the worth of their houses. The bill was written for
Fairbanks, and it's not a solution for issues statewide. She
gave several examples of ways the borough might abuse or
improperly use the bill.
1:42:24 PM
SENATOR COWDERY asked for clarification of a point made by Ms.
Wilson.
MS. WILSON replied that tax amounts should be set, not based on
house worth.
SENATOR COWDERY asked for her thoughts on vacant lots.
MS. WILSON said that currently the tax is based on mill rates
for property value.
SENATOR COWDERY said that the public uses the road whether they
live there or not.
MS. WILSON replied that was correct.
1:43:29 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if Ms. Wilson was questioning the
fairness of tax payments, and said that the bill doesn't address
that issue.
MS. WILSON agreed, but said that the bill doesn't make the issue
any fairer.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that there may be certain people using
an area without paying for it, and they should do so.
MS. WILSON said that everyone in the district should pay the
same amount.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that the bill has nothing to do with
that issue, and clarified that he was talking about whether
people should pay or not.
1:44:54 PM
SENATOR OLSON said that if there's only one driver then it
doesn't matter how many cars they own.
MS. WILSON explained that taxes should depend on how many people
in a home drive.
SENATOR OLSON said that that logic isn't common regarding
property taxes.
MS. WILSON said that a gallon of milk costs the same for
everyone.
SENATOR OLSON replied that the logic isn't the same.
MS. WILSON replied that all boroughs determine taxes in
different ways, and the bill isn't a solution for the whole
state.
1:46:42 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked which districts the bill doesn't work
for.
MS. WILSON replied that a gentleman from Kenai who testified in
a previous meeting pointed out how it would not work for his
area.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that in his understanding it worked
fine. He asked if there's a way the city of Fairbanks could fix
the issue without changing the bill.
MS. WILSON said that the issue needs to be addressed locally.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how that could be done.
MS. WILSON replied that a local ordinance could be used.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI pointed out that the issue is governed by
state law.
MS. WILSON said that road service methods change for each
borough.
1:47:56 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that a local solution would be
preferable, but it appears that state law does not allow for
that.
SENATOR COWDERY said that state law was in place when the
original areas were annexed. He added that he sympathizes with
the Fairbanks people, and the issue is local.
SENATOR OLSON asked for clarification on the issue.
1:49:11 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI repeated that a local solution would be
ideal, but he's not convinced there is one available.
CHAIR KOOKESH said that there was a representative from the
Fairbanks North Star borough available for questions.
1:49:51 PM
RENEE BROKER, attorney for the Fairbanks North Star borough,
clarified that the bill imposes a fair standard making property
owners eligible for movement into or out of a service area based
on road use. The bill is fully supported by Fairbanks service
areas because a property should belong to the service area in
which the owner drives. The legislation restores constitutional
rights for altering service boundaries logically, and the bill
is following state law. The amount of tax paid for different-
sized families is not an issue that can be fixed in this bill.
The borough worked with the municipality of Anchorage on the
bill because of similar problems in that area. The problem is
not only urban.
1:54:27 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that there had been testimony that the
issue should be resolved at a local level, and asked if that was
possible.
MS. BROKER replied that it absolutely is not, and gave an
example of why.
1:55:20 PM
SENATOR COWDERY asked if road service areas were changed within
statute.
MS. BROKER replied that was correct.
1:55:57 PM
TAMMY WILSON, representing herself, said that the issue could be
taken care of locally; when subdivisions are created they have
to be stringently planned. Before they're approved, they should
be dealt with in terms of road service areas. The issue isn't
one that should be solved in hindsight. She explained that she
lives on a private road in Fairbanks that's not maintained, yet
the city wants to put her into a road service area; she
explained the process she went through to try to not become part
of a service area, and how she should not have been included in
the road service area.
She added that most of the examples of affected areas were small
groups of houses; she has heard that a lot of the issue is
because gravel pits are springing up behind subdivisions. She
suggested adding a simple definition of private versus public
road to the bill.
2:00:53 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that he finally understood the issue,
and asked how the private road maintenance was funded.
MS. WILSON replied that they collect money door-to-door and
maintain the road themselves.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that he understood her concern, and
asked for clarification on the effects of the bill on her road.
MS. WILSON replied the bill shows that the borough doesn't even
understand what they should and should not include in road
service areas.
2:02:37 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that it seems that individual road
maintenance fees would go down if more people lived on the road
and paid the same amount of taxes.
MS. WILSON replied that everyone pays the same amount for road
maintenance. She added that the other point of the issue is that
there's no distinction between a private and public road in the
bill or anywhere in state law.
2:04:33 PM
ED MAHONEY, representing himself, said that he heard that his
language of concern was taken out of the bill, and if that was
the case he had no further problem with the bill. If it was not,
he would maintain his opposition.
CHAIR KOOKESH said that the committee would hold HB 185 [CSHB
185(CRA)] and SB 136.
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