Legislature(2017 - 2018)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/16/2017 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB8 | |
| SB77 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 8 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 77 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 77-SECOND CLASS BOROUGH SERVICE AREAS
3:46:47 PM
CHAIR BISHOP announced consideration of SB 77.
RACHEL HENKE, staff to Senator Peter Micciche, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, presented SB 77 for the sponsor.
She said SB 77 would expand the authority for second class
boroughs to exercise the local option of creating a non-taxable
service area, specifically, areas where there are no voters
within the service areas boundaries. No new taxes will be
levied, but rather the borough could use a portion of its
federal payment in lieu of taxes allocation to cover the costs.
The point of SB 77 is to just give boroughs more authority to
protect their main roadways at no extra cost to the state.
CHAIR BISHOP opened public testimony on SB 77.
3:49:25 PM
MIKE NAVARRE, Mayor, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Soldotna, Alaska,
supported SB 77, and said its purpose is to clarify a provision
that already exists in law, but is difficult to implement. He
elaborated that the borough has stretches of highway that have
no emergency coverage and a very low taxable base in order to
provide for that service. So, volunteer emergency responders are
struggling to provide those services. The highway corridor
between Anchorage and Kenai is heavily traveled and they end up
responding to a lot of travelers who are traveling to and from
the Kenai Peninsula and it's beyond their ability to cover it.
Additionally, existing statutory provisions restrict using
service area funds from one area in another service area or
outside the boundaries of the service area, so they are having a
difficult time trying to supplement the volunteer efforts.
MAYOR NAVARRE said SB 77 would allow the borough to create a
highway corridor service area where there will be no residents
and no taxpayers, and because most of the land adjacent to the
roadway is federally owned or even in some cases state lands,
this authority would allow using in lieu of taxes funds that the
Kenai Borough currently gets from the federal government in
order to help provide and supplement those services. He showed a
map illustrating the number of accidents in the highway
corridor.
MAYOR NAVARRE explained that the reason the law needs
clarification is because even though it says they can do this
already, they still have to get approval from all the owners of
the property, and that is next to impossible to do. And because
it's a highway corridor that has underlying land owners that
makes it even more difficult than it ought to be to provide
reasonable emergency service coverage.
MAYOR NAVARRE said SB 77 has a zero fiscal note; the Alaska
State Troopers support it, and none of the other second class
boroughs have concerns or object to the language. It enhances
public safety and allows the borough to close the legal gap in a
significant public safety concern using funds it currently gets
from the federal government while recognizing that those funds
are already fully utilized within their budget, and it likely
means that either some other area will have to be reduced or all
the residents of the Kenai Peninsula Borough will be paying to
help support this service.
3:53:59 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN noted that Prince of Wales Island is not on the
list of affected areas even though it is the only island that
has multiple inter-connected communities on it.
MAYOR NAVARRE said this measure only applies to second class
boroughs.
3:55:08 PM
CHAIR BISHOP said he liked the bill, but asked if the Mayor said
his borough would provide "mutual aid" along the safety corridor
helping these other smaller communities.
MAYOR NAVARRE replied yes; the reality is that the mutual aid
authority is kind of stretching already existing state law for
fire and emergency services, because there is nothing mutual
about it. "Mutual aid" also requires that somebody actually
responds and calls for the mutual aid. In some cases that
doesn't happen, because the community of Cooper Landing is a
senior community and has a very high number of senior tax
exemptions, but also some of the volunteers have been doing it
for 20 or more years and can no longer drive at night or lift as
much weight. All they are trying to do is make sure legal
authority is established to provide the service and recognize
that more than half of the responses are to people who don't
live in the Cooper Landing area boundaries.
3:57:26 PM
LARRY PERSILY, Chief of Staff to Mayor Navarre, Kenai Peninsula
Borough, Soldotna, Alaska, said he was available to answer
questions on SB 77.
DAVID GIBBS, Director, Emergency Services, Fairbanks North Star
Borough, Fairbanks, Alaska, supported SB 77. He said the
Fairbanks North Star Borough is a second class borough and they
fully recognize that this measure may provide a benefit for them
as they work on their road corridor safety issues, in addition
to the obvious benefit it provides to the Kenai Borough.
3:59:04 PM
KATHERINE WASSERMAN, Executive Director, Alaska Municipal League
(AML), Juneau, Alaska, supported SB 77. She said AML really
likes this kind of legislation, because it identifies an issue
that needs to be fixed and then provides a tool to actually fix
it. This concept could be expanded to communities on Prince of
Wales Island if the legislature wanted to do that.
SENATOR STEDMAN noted that language on page 1, line 5, says "a
second class borough may establish," and that answered his
earlier question.
SENATOR MICCICHE remarked that this is a life or death
situation.
CHAIR BISHOP said he understands what Senator Micciche wants to
accomplish and that he likes the bill.
He closed public testimony and said he would hold SB 77 for a
later hearing.