Chapter 25. Municipal Enactments.
Sec. 29.25.010. Acts required to be by ordinance.
(a) In addition to other actions that this title requires to be by ordinance, the governing body of a municipality shall use ordinances to
(1) establish, alter, or abolish municipal departments;
(2) provide for a fine or other penalty, or establish rules or regulations for violation of which a fine or other penalty is imposed;
(3) provide for the levying of taxes;
(4) make appropriations, including supplemental appropriations or transfer of appropriations.
(5) grant, renew, or extend a franchise;
(6) adopt, modify, or repeal the comprehensive plan, land use and subdivision regulations, building and housing codes, and the official map;
(7) approve the transfer of a power to a first or second class borough from a city;
(8) designate the borough seat;
(9) provide for the retention or sale of tax-foreclosed property;
(10) exempt contractors from compliance with general requirements relating to payment and performance bonds in the construction or repair of municipal public works projects within the limitations set out in
AS 36.25.025; this paragraph applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
(b) This section does not grant authority, but requires the governing body to use ordinances in exercising certain of its powers.
Sec. 29.25.020. Ordinance procedure.
(a) An ordinance is introduced in writing in the form required by the governing body.
(b) The following procedure governs the enactment of all ordinances, except emergency ordinances:
(1) an ordinance may be introduced by a member or committee of the governing body, or by the mayor or manager;
(2) an ordinance shall be set by the governing body for a public hearing by the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes authorized on the question;
(3) at least five days before the public hearing a summary of the ordinance shall be published together with a notice of the time and place for the hearing;
(4) copies of the ordinance shall be available to all persons present at the hearing, or the ordinance shall be read in full;
(5) during the hearing the governing body shall hear all interested persons wishing to be heard;
(6) after the public hearing the governing body shall consider the ordinance, and may adopt it with or without amendment;
(7) the governing body shall print and make available copies of an ordinance that is adopted.
(c) An ordinance takes effect upon adoption or at a later date specified in the ordinance.
(d) This section does not apply to an ordinance proposed under
AS 04.11.507(d).
Sec. 29.25.030. Emergency ordinances.
(a) To meet a public emergency the governing body may adopt an emergency ordinance effective on adoption. Each emergency ordinance must contain a finding by the governing body that an emergency exists and a statement of the facts upon which the finding is based. An emergency ordinance may be adopted, amended and adopted, or rejected at the meeting at which it is introduced. The affirmative vote of all members present, or the affirmative vote of three-fourths of the total membership, whichever is less, is required for adoption of an emergency ordinance. The governing body shall print and make available copies of adopted emergency ordinances.
(b) An emergency ordinance may not be used to levy taxes, to grant, renew, or extend a franchise, or to regulate the rate charged by a public utility for its services.
(c) An emergency ordinance is effective for 60 days.
Sec. 29.25.040. Codes of regulation.
The governing body may in a single ordinance adopt or amend by reference provisions of a published code of municipal regulations. The procedure under
AS 29.25.020 applies to an ordinance adopted under this section, except that neither the ordinance or its amendments must be distributed to the public or read in full at the public hearing. For a period of 15 days before adoption of an ordinance under this section, at least five copies of the code of regulations shall be made available for public inspection at a time and place set out in the hearing notice. Only the ordinance must be printed after it is adopted under this section. The governing body shall provide for an adopted code of regulations to be made available to the public at no more than cost.
Sec. 29.25.050. Codification.
(a) Each ordinance shall be codified after it is adopted.
(b) Within three years after incorporation of a municipality, the municipal clerk or the clerk's designee shall have prepared a general codification of all municipal ordinances of general applicability having the force and effect of law. The municipal code shall be revised and printed at least every five years, unless the code is kept current by regular supplements.
(c) In (a) of this section, “codified” means
(1) the ordinance has been given a serial number or other permanent identifying number, and, bearing a notation of the date of adoption and the adopting authority, it has been entered by the municipal clerk in a properly indexed book maintained for the purposes of organizing and recording the ordinances; or
(2) the ordinance is a provision that establishes a rule of conduct or behavior and that is included, or to be included, in a code of ordinances or other complete system of law enacted and kept current at reasonable intervals.
(d) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.25.060. Resolutions.
(a) The governing body shall provide for the maintenance of a permanent file of resolutions that have been adopted.
(b) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.25.070. Penalties.
(a) For the violation of an ordinance, a municipality may by ordinance prescribe a penalty not to exceed a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for 90 days, except as limited by (f) of this section. For a violation that cannot result in incarceration or the loss of a valuable license, a municipality may allow disposition of the violation without court appearance and establish a schedule of fine amounts for each offense.
(b) The municipality or an aggrieved person may institute a civil action against a person, including a minor as provided in
AS 29.25.072, who violates an ordinance. In addition to injunctive and compensatory relief, a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 may be imposed for each violation. An action to enjoin a violation may be brought notwithstanding the availability of any other remedy. On application for injunctive relief and a finding of a violation or a threatened violation, the superior court shall grant the injunction. Each day that a violation of an ordinance continues constitutes a separate violation.
(c) The penalties authorized under this section may be imposed only if copies of the ordinance are made available for distribution to the public at no more than cost.
(d) This section does not apply to an ordinance adopted under
AS 04.11.501(c).
(e) The municipality shall provide written notice to the commissioner of health and social services or to the commissioner's designee of the commencement of a civil enforcement action for the violation of an ordinance under (b) of this section against a minor. Unless the commissioner and the municipality have negotiated an agreement making other arrangements for the municipality to provide the notice required by this subsection, the municipality shall provide the notice by mailing a copy of the citation or other document setting out the notice of the commencement of the civil enforcement action. This subsection applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
(f) If a municipality prescribes a penalty for a violation of a municipal ordinance, including a violation under (a) of this section, and there is a comparable state crime under
AS 11 or
AS 28 with elements that are similar to the municipal ordinance, the municipality may not impose a greater punishment than that imposed for a violation of the state crime. This subsection applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
(g) In this section, “minor” means a person under 18 years of age.
Sec. 29.25.072. Civil penalties for violation of municipal ordinances by minors.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the enforcement under
AS 29.25.070(b) of a civil penalty against a minor for violation of a municipal ordinance shall be heard in the district court in the same manner as for similar allegations brought against an adult, except that the minor's parent, guardian, or legal custodian shall be present at all proceedings unless the court excuses the parent, guardian, or legal custodian from attendance for good cause.
(b) If provision is made by ordinance for use of a hearing officer to decide enforcement of a civil penalty under
AS 29.25.070(b), allegations against a minor for a civil penalty under a municipal ordinance may be assigned to a hearing officer for the municipality for decision.
(c) An action for a civil penalty filed against a minor under this section does not give rise to the right to a trial by jury or to counsel appointed at public expense.
Sec. 29.25.074. Surcharge.
(a) A municipality may not enforce a penalty for violation of an ordinance for which a surcharge is required to be imposed under
AS 12.55.039 unless the municipality authorizes the imposition of and provides for the collection of the surcharge. The surcharge shall be deposited into the general fund of the state and accounted for under
AS 37.05.142. Subject to appropriation, the legislature may reimburse a municipality that collects a surcharge required to be imposed under
AS 12.55.039 for the cost to the municipality in collecting the surcharge and transmitting the surcharge to the state. The reimbursement may not exceed 10 percent of the surcharge collected and transmitted to the state.
(b) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.25.075. Collection of penalties.
The court may collect for a municipality any monetary penalty or surcharge or item to be forfeited as a result of the violation of an ordinance. The supreme court may prescribe by rule the fees to be charged by all courts to municipalities for providing collection services under this section.
Sec. 29.25.080. Breast-feeding.
A municipality may not enact an ordinance that prohibits or restricts a woman breast-feeding a child in a public or private location where the woman and child are otherwise authorized to be. In a municipal ordinance, “lewd conduct,” “lewd touching,” “immoral conduct,” “indecent conduct,” and similar terms do not include the act of a woman breast-feeding a child in a public or private location where the woman and child are otherwise authorized to be. Nothing in this section may be construed to authorize an act that is an offense under a municipal ordinance that establishes an offense with elements substantially equivalent to the elements of an offense under
AS 11.61.123. This section is applicable to home rule and general law municipalities.
Article 1. Regular and Special Elections.
Chapter 26. Elections.
Sec. 29.26.010. Administration.
(a) The governing body shall prescribe the rules for conducting an election.
(b) For an election in which voters cast ballots at polling places in their precincts, the governing body shall appoint an election board composed of at least three judges for each precinct. If the governing body appoints an election board, a judge shall be a voter of the precinct for which appointed unless no voter is willing to serve.
Sec. 29.26.020. Nominations.
(a) Subject to other provisions of this title, the governing body shall provide by ordinance for nominations of elected officials by providing for declaration of candidacy or for petition requiring the signatures of not more than 10 voters, or for both.
(b) A person may be nominated for and occupy more than one office, but may not serve simultaneously as borough mayor and as a member of the assembly or, in a first class city, as city mayor and as a member of the council.
Sec. 29.26.030. Notice of elections.
(a) Subject to other provisions of this title, a municipality shall give at least 20 days notice of an election.
(b) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.26.040. Date of regular election.
The date of a regular election is the first Tuesday of October annually, unless a different date or interval of years is provided by ordinance.
Sec. 29.26.050. Voter qualification.
(a) A person may vote in a municipal election only if the person
(1) is qualified to vote in state elections under
AS 15.05.010;
(2) has been a resident of the municipality for 30 days immediately preceding the election;
(3) is registered to vote in state elections at a residence address within a municipality at least 30 days before the municipal election at which the person seeks to vote; and
(4) is not disqualified under art. V of the state constitution.
(b) Voter registration by the municipality may not be required. However, in order to vote for a candidate or on a ballot measure relating to a specific local election district or service area, a municipality may by ordinance require that a person be registered to vote in state elections at least 30 days before the municipal election at an address within the boundaries of that local election district or service area. The municipality has the responsibility to determine if a voter meets the requirements of the ordinance and this section.
(c) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.26.060. Runoff elections.
(a) Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, a runoff election shall be held if no candidate receives over 40 percent of the votes cast for the office of
(1) mayor; or
(2) member of the governing body or school board if candidates run for a designated seat.
(b) Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, if candidates for the governing body or school board run at large, a runoff election for a seat shall be held if no candidate receives a number of votes greater than 40 percent of the total votes cast for all candidates divided by the number of seats to be filled.
(c) Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, a runoff election shall be held within three weeks after the date of certification of the election for which a runoff is required, and notice of the runoff election shall be published at least five days before the election date. The runoff election shall be between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes for the seat.
Sec. 29.26.070. Election contest and appeal.
(a) The governing body may provide by ordinance the time and procedure for the contest of an election.
(b) Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, an election may be contested only by a voter by filing a written affidavit with the municipal clerk specifying with particularity the grounds for the contest. An election may be contested before or during the first canvass of ballots by the governing body.
(c) Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, the governing body shall declare the election results at the first meeting to canvass the election, record the results in the minutes of that meeting, and authorize the results to be certified.
(d) A contestant shall pay all costs and expenses incurred in a recount of an election demanded by the contestant if the recount fails to reverse a result of the election, or the difference between the winning and losing vote on the result contested is more than two percent.
(e) A person may not appeal or seek judicial review of an election for any cause unless the person is a voter, has exhausted all administrative remedies before the governing body, and has commenced, within 10 days after the governing body has declared the election results, an action in the superior court in the judicial district in which the municipality is located. If court action is not commenced within the 10-day period, the election and election results are conclusive and valid.
Article 2. Initiative and Referendum.
Sec. 29.26.100. Reservation of powers.
The powers of initiative and referendum are reserved to the residents of municipalities, except the powers do not extend to matters restricted by art. XI, § 7 of the state constitution.
Sec. 29.26.110. Application for petition.
(a) An initiative or referendum is proposed by filing an application with the municipal clerk containing the ordinance or resolution to be initiated or the ordinance or resolution to be referred and the name and address of a contact person and an alternate to whom all correspondence relating to the petition may be sent. An application shall be signed by at least 10 voters who will sponsor the petition. An additional sponsor may be added at any time before the petition is filed by submitting the name of the sponsor to the clerk. Within two weeks the clerk shall certify the application if the clerk finds that it is in proper form and, for an initiative petition, that the matter
(1) is not restricted by
AS 29.26.100;
(2) includes only a single subject;
(3) relates to a legislative rather than to an administrative matter; and
(4) would be enforceable as a matter of law.
(b) A decision by the clerk on an application for petition is subject to judicial review.
Sec. 29.26.120. Contents of petition.
(a) Within two weeks after certification of an application for an initiative or referendum petition, a petition shall be prepared by the municipal clerk. Each copy of the petition must contain
(1) a summary of the ordinance or resolution to be initiated or the ordinance or resolution to be referred;
(2) the complete ordinance or resolution sought to be initiated or referred as submitted by the sponsors;
(3) the date on which the petition is issued by the clerk;
(4) notice that signatures must be secured within 90 days after the date the petition is issued;
(5) spaces for each signature, the printed name of each signer, the date each signature is affixed, and the residence and mailing addresses of each signer;
(6) a statement, with space for the sponsor's sworn signature and date of signing, that the sponsor personally circulated the petition, that all signatures were affixed in the presence of the sponsor, and that the sponsor believes the signatures to be those of the persons whose names they purport to be; and
(7) space for indicating the total number of signatures on the petition.
(b) If a petition consists of more than one page, each page must contain the summary of the ordinance or resolution to be initiated or the ordinance or resolution to be referred.
(c) The clerk shall notify the contact person in writing when the petition is available. The contact person is responsible for notifying sponsors. Copies of the petition shall be provided by the clerk to each sponsor who appears in the clerk's office and requests a petition, and the clerk shall mail the petition to each sponsor who requests that the petition be mailed.
Sec. 29.26.130. Signature requirements.
(a) The signatures on an initiative or referendum petition shall be secured within 90 days after the clerk issues the petition. The statement provided under
AS 29.26.120(a)(6) shall be signed and dated by the sponsor. Signatures shall be in ink or indelible pencil.
(b) The clerk shall determine the number of signatures required on a petition and inform the contact person in writing. Except as provided in (e) of this section, a petition shall be signed by a number of voters based on the number of votes cast at the last regular election held before the date written notice is given to the contact person that the petition is available, equal to
(1) 25 percent of the votes cast if a municipality has fewer than 7,500 persons; or
(2) 15 percent of the votes cast if a municipality has 7,500 persons or more.
(c) Illegible signatures shall be rejected by the clerk unless accompanied by a legible printed name. Signatures not accompanied by a legible residence address shall be rejected.
(d) A petition signer may withdraw the signer's signature on written application to the clerk before certification of the petition.
(e) If the ordinance or resolution that is the subject of an initiative or referendum petition affects only an area that is less than the entire area of a municipality, only voters residing in the affected area may sign the petition. The clerk shall determine the number of signatures required on the petition and inform the contact person in writing. The petition shall be signed by a number of voters based on the number of votes cast in that area at the last regular election held before the date written notice is given to the contact person that the petition is available equal to
(1) 25 percent of the votes cast if the area has fewer than 7,500 persons; or
(2) 15 percent of the votes cast if the area has 7,500 persons or more.
Sec. 29.26.140. Sufficiency of petition.
(a) All copies of an initiative or referendum petition shall be assembled and filed as a single instrument. Within 10 days after the date the petition is filed, the municipal clerk shall
(1) certify on the petition whether it is sufficient; and
(2) if the petition is insufficient, identify the insufficiency and notify the contact person by certified mail.
(b) A petition that is insufficient may be supplemented with additional signatures obtained and filed before the 11th day after the date on which the petition is rejected.
(c) A petition that is insufficient shall be rejected and filed as a public record unless it is supplemented under (b) of this section. Within 10 days after a supplementary filing the clerk shall recertify the petition. If it is still insufficient, the petition is rejected and filed as a public record.
Sec. 29.26.150. Protest.
If the municipal clerk certifies that an initiative or referendum petition is insufficient, a signer of the petition may file a protest with the mayor within seven days after the certification. The mayor shall present the protest at the next regular meeting of the governing body. The governing body shall hear and decide the protest.
Sec. 29.26.160. New petition.
Failure to secure sufficient signatures does not preclude the filing of a new initiative or referendum petition. However, a new petition on substantially the same matter may not be filed sooner than six months after a petition is rejected as insufficient.
Sec. 29.26.170. Initiative election.
(a) Unless substantially the same measure is adopted, when a petition seeks an initiative vote, the clerk shall submit the matter to the voters at the next regular election or, if already scheduled, special election occurring not sooner than 60 days after certification of the petition. If no election is scheduled to occur within 75 days after the certification of a petition and the governing body determines it is in the best interest of the municipality, the governing body may by ordinance order a special election to be held on the matter before the next election that is already scheduled, but not sooner than 60 days after certification of the petition.
(b) If the governing body adopts substantially the same measure, the petition is void, and the matter initiated may not be placed before the voters.
(c) The ordinance or resolution initiated shall be published in full in the notice of the election, but may be summarized on the ballot to indicate clearly the proposal submitted.
(d) If a majority vote favors the ordinance or resolution, it becomes effective upon certification of the election, unless a different effective date is provided in the ordinance or resolution.
Sec. 29.26.180. Referendum election.
(a) Unless the ordinance or resolution is repealed, when a petition seeks a referendum vote, the clerk shall submit the matter to the voters at the next regular election or, if already scheduled, special election occurring not sooner than 60 days after certification of the petition. If no election is scheduled to occur within 75 days after certification of a petition and the governing body determines it is in the best interest of the municipality, the governing body may by ordinance order a special election to be held on the matter before the next election that is already scheduled, but not sooner than 60 days after certification of the petition.
(b) If a petition is certified before the effective date of the matter referred, the ordinance or resolution against which the petition is filed shall be suspended pending the referendum vote. During the period of suspension, the governing body may not enact an ordinance or resolution substantially similar to the suspended measure.
(c) If the governing body repeals the ordinance or resolution before the referendum election, the petition is void and the matter referred shall not be placed before the voters.
(d) If a majority vote favors the repeal of the matter referred, it is repealed. Otherwise, the matter referred remains in effect or, if it has been suspended, becomes effective on certification of the election.
Sec. 29.26.190. Effect.
(a) The effect of an ordinance or resolution may not be modified or negated within two years after its effective date if adopted in an initiative election or if adopted after a petition that contains substantially the same measure has been filed.
(b) If an ordinance or resolution is repealed in a referendum election or by the governing body after a petition that contains substantially the same measure has been filed, substantially similar legislation may not be enacted by the governing body for a period of two years.
(c) If an initiative or referendum measure fails to receive voter approval, a new petition application for substantially the same measure may not be filed sooner than six months after the election results are certified.
Article 3. Recall.
Sec. 29.26.240. Recall.
An official who is elected or appointed to an elective municipal office may be recalled by the voters after the official has served the first 120 days of the term for which elected or appointed.
Sec. 29.26.250. Grounds for recall.
Grounds for recall are misconduct in office, incompetence, or failure to perform prescribed duties.
Sec. 29.26.260. Application for recall petition.
(a) An application for a recall petition shall be filed with the municipal clerk and must contain
(1) the signatures and residence addresses of at least 10 municipal voters who will sponsor the petition;
(2) the name and address of the contact person and an alternate to whom all correspondence relating to the petition may be sent; and
(3) a statement in 200 words or less of the grounds for recall stated with particularity.
(b) An additional sponsor may be added at any time before the petition is filed by submitting the name of the sponsor to the clerk.
Sec. 29.26.270. Recall petition.
(a) If the municipal clerk determines that an application for a recall petition meets the requirements of
AS 29.26.260, the clerk shall prepare a recall petition. All copies of the petition must contain
(1) the name of the official sought to be recalled;
(2) the statement of the grounds for recall as set out in the application for petition;
(3) the date the petition is issued by the clerk;
(4) notice that signatures must be secured within 60 days after the date the petition is issued;
(5) spaces for each signature, the printed name of each signer, the date of each signature, and the residence and mailing addresses of each signer;
(6) a statement, with space for the sponsor's sworn signature and date of signing, that the sponsor personally circulated the petition, that all signatures were affixed in the presence of the sponsor, and that the sponsor believes the signatures to be those of the persons whose names they purport to be; and
(7) space for indicating the number of signatures on the petition.
(b) The clerk shall notify the contact person in writing when the petition is available. That person is responsible for notifying sponsors. Copies of the petition shall be provided by the clerk to each sponsor who appears in the clerk's office and requests a petition, and the clerk shall mail the petition to each sponsor who requests that the petition be mailed.
Sec. 29.26.280. Signature requirements.
(a) The signatures on a recall petition shall be secured within 60 days after the date the clerk issues the petition. The statement provided under
AS 29.26.270(a)(6) shall be completed and signed by the sponsor. Signatures shall be in ink or indelible pencil.
(b) The clerk shall determine the number of signatures required on a petition and inform the contact person in writing. If a petition seeks to recall an official who represents the municipality at large, the petition shall be signed by a number of voters equal to 25 percent of the number of votes cast for that office at the last regular election held before the date written notice is given to the contact person that the petition is available. If a petition seeks to recall an official who represents a district, the petition shall be signed by a number of the voters residing in the district equal to 25 percent of the number of votes cast in the district for that office at the last regular election held before the date the written notice is given to the contact person that the petition is available.
(c) Illegible signatures shall be rejected by the clerk unless accompanied by a legible printed name. Signatures not accompanied by a legible residence shall be rejected.
(d) A petition signer may withdraw the signer's signature upon written application to the clerk before certification of the petition.
Sec. 29.26.290. Sufficiency of petition.
(a) The copies of a recall petition shall be assembled and filed as a single instrument. A petition may not be filed within 180 days before the end of the term of office of the official sought to be recalled. Within 10 days after the date a petition is filed, the municipal clerk shall
(1) certify on the petition whether it is sufficient; and
(2) if the petition is insufficient, identify the insufficiency and notify the contact person by certified mail.
(b) A petition that is insufficient may be supplemented with additional signatures obtained and filed before the 11th day after the date on which the petition is rejected if
(1) the petition contains an adequate number of signatures, counting both valid and invalid signatures; and
(2) the supplementary petition is filed more than 180 days before the end of the term of office of the official sought to be recalled.
(c) A petition that is insufficient shall be rejected and filed as a public record unless it is supplemented under (b) of this section. Within 10 days after the supplementary filing the clerk shall recertify the petition. If it is still insufficient, the petition is rejected and filed as a public record.
Sec. 29.26.300. New recall petition application.
A new application for a petition to recall the same official may not be filed sooner than six months after a petition is rejected as insufficient.
Sec. 29.26.310. Submission.
If a recall petition is sufficient, the clerk shall submit it to the governing body at the next regular meeting or at a special meeting held before the next regular meeting.
Sec. 29.26.320. Election.
(a) If a regular election occurs within 75 days but not sooner than 45 days after submission of the petition to the governing body, the governing body shall submit the recall at that election.
(b) If no regular election occurs within 75 days, the governing body shall hold a special election on the recall question within 75 days but not sooner than 45 days after a petition is submitted to the governing body.
(c) If a vacancy occurs in the office after a sufficient recall petition is filed with the clerk, the recall question may not be submitted to the voters. The governing body may not appoint to the same office an official who resigns after a sufficient recall petition is filed naming that official.
Sec. 29.26.330. Form of recall ballot.
A recall ballot must contain
(1) the grounds for recall as stated in 200 words or less on the recall petition;
(2) a statement by the official named on the recall petition of 200 words or less, if the statement is filed with the clerk for publication and public inspection at least 20 days before the election;
(3) the following question: “Shall (name of person) be recalled from the office of (office)? Yes [ ] No [ ]”.
Sec. 29.26.340. Effect.
(a) If a majority vote favors recall, the office becomes vacant upon certification of the recall election.
(b) If an official is not recalled at the election, an application for a petition to recall the same official may not be filed sooner than six months after the election.
Sec. 29.26.350. Successors.
(a) If an official is recalled from the governing body, the office of that official is filled in accordance with
AS 29.20.180. If all members of the governing body are recalled, the governor shall appoint three qualified persons to the governing body. The appointees shall appoint additional members to fill remaining vacancies in accordance with
AS 29.20.180.
(b) If a member of the school board is recalled, the office of that member is filled in accordance with
AS 14.12.070. If all members are recalled from a school board, the governor shall appoint three qualified persons to the school board. The appointees shall appoint additional members to fill remaining vacancies in accordance with
AS 14.12.070.
(c) A person who has been recalled may not be appointed under (a) or (b) of this section to the office from which the person was recalled. A person appointed under (a) or (b) of this section serves until a successor is elected and takes office.
(d) If an official other than a member of the governing body or school board is recalled, a successor shall be elected to fill the unexpired portion of the term. The election shall be held not more than 60 days after the date the recall election is certified, except that if a regular election occurs within 75 days after certification the successor shall be chosen at that election.
(e) Nominations for a successor may be filed until seven days before the last date on which a first notice of the election must be given. Nominations may not be filed before the certification of the recall election.
Sec. 29.26.360. Application.
AS 29.26.250 — 29.26.360 apply to home rule and general law municipalities.
Chapter 28. Elections.
[Repealed, § 88 ch 74 SLA 1985.]
Chapter 33. Areawide Borough Powers and Duties.
[Repealed, § 88 ch 74 SLA 1985.]
Article 1. General Powers.
Chapter 35. Municipal Powers and Duties.
Sec. 29.35.010. General powers.
All municipalities have the following general powers, subject to other provisions of law:
(1) to establish and prescribe a salary for an elected or appointed municipal official or employee;
(2) to combine two or more appointive or administrative offices;
(3) to establish and prescribe the functions of a municipal department, office, or agency;
(4) to require periodic and special reports from a municipal department to be submitted through the mayor;
(5) to investigate an affair of the municipality and make inquiries into the conduct of a municipal department;
(6) to levy a tax or special assessment, and impose a lien for its enforcement;
(7) to enforce an ordinance and to prescribe a penalty for violation of an ordinance;
(8) to acquire, manage, control, use, and dispose of real and personal property, whether the property is situated inside or outside the municipal boundaries; this power includes the power of a borough to expend, for any purpose authorized by law, money received from the disposal of land in a service area established under
AS 29.35.450;
(9) to expend money for a community purpose, facility, or service for the good of the municipality to the extent the municipality is otherwise authorized by law to exercise the power necessary to accomplish the purpose or provide the facility or service;
(10) to regulate the operation and use of a municipal right-of-way, facility, or service;
(11) to borrow money and issue evidences of indebtedness;
(12) to acquire membership in an organization that promotes legislation for the good of the municipality;
(13) to enter into an agreement, including an agreement for cooperative or joint administration of any function or power with a municipality, the state, or the United States;
(14) to sue and be sued;
(15) to provide facilities or services for the confinement and care of prisoners and enter into agreements with the state, another municipality, or any person relating to the confinement and care of prisoners;
(16) to receive grants from and contract with the Department of Public Safety under
AS 18.65.670;
(17) to provide by ordinance for the creation, recording, and notice of a lien on real or personal property to secure payment of past due utility fees, costs incurred by the municipality in the abatement of an unsafe or dangerous building, and other fees and charges provided for by ordinance; except as otherwise provided by state law, when recorded, a municipal lien under this paragraph has priority over all other liens except
(A) liens for property taxes, special assessments, and sales and use taxes;
(B) liens that were perfected before the recording of the lien under this paragraph;
(C) liens that, under state law, are prior, paramount, and superior to all other liens; and
(D) mechanics' and materialmen's liens for which claims of lien under
AS 34.35.070 or notices of right to lien under
AS 34.35.064 have been recorded before the recording of the lien under this paragraph.
Sec. 29.35.015. Investment pools.
A municipality may invest money in investment pools for public entities as authorized under
AS 37.23 only if that municipality has obtained the consent of its governing body through an ordinance authorizing the participation.
Sec. 29.35.020. Extraterritorial jurisdiction.
(a) To the extent a municipality is otherwise authorized by law to exercise the power necessary to provide the facility or service, the municipality may provide facilities for the confinement and care of prisoners, parks, playgrounds, cemeteries, emergency medical services, solid and septic waste disposal, utility services, airports, streets (including ice roads), trails, transportation facilities, wharves, harbors and other marine facilities outside its boundaries and may regulate their use and operation to the extent that the jurisdiction in which they are located does not regulate them. A regulation adopted under this section must state that it applies outside the municipality.
(b) A municipality may adopt an ordinance to exercise a power authorized by this subsection and may enforce the ordinance outside its boundaries. Before a power authorized by this subsection may be exercised inside the boundaries of another municipality, the approval of the other municipality must be given by ordinance, and before a power authorized by this subsection may be exercised inside a village, as that term is defined by
AS 46.08.900, the approval of the village must be given by resolution. A municipality intending to exercise its authority under this subsection shall act by ordinance, and may adopt an ordinance under this subsection to
(1) protect its water supply and watershed; or
(2) contain, clean up, or prevent the release or threatened release of oil or a hazardous substance that may pose an imminent or substantial threat to persons, property, or natural resources within the municipality's boundaries; however, this paragraph does not authorize a municipality to enforce an ordinance outside its boundaries to regulate exploration, development, production, or transportation of oil, gas, or minerals in a manner inconsistent with the state's management of those resources, and enforcement of the ordinance must be consistent with a regional master plan prepared by the Department of Environmental Conservation under
AS 46.04.210; in this paragraph, “natural resources” has the meaning given in
AS 46.03.826.
(c) A municipality may enter into agreements with the United States Coast Guard, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and other persons relating to development and enforcement of vessel traffic control and monitoring systems for oil barges and tank vessels carrying oil operating in or near the waters of the state.
(d) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
(e) In this section, “village”
(1) means the area within a five-mile radius of the village post office or, if there is no post office, another site designated by the commissioner;
(2) does not include an area described in (1) of this subsection that is within a city or another village.
Sec. 29.35.030. Eminent domain.
(a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, a municipality may, only within its boundaries, exercise the powers of eminent domain and declaration of taking in the performance of a power or function of the municipality under the procedures set out in
AS 09.55.250 — 09.55.460. In the case of a second class city, the exercise of the power of eminent domain or declaration of taking must be by ordinance that is submitted to the voters at the next general election or at a special election called for that purpose. A majority of the votes on the question is required for approval of the ordinance.
(b) The power of eminent domain may not be exercised to acquire private property from a private person for the purpose of transferring title to the property to another private person for economic development, except as provided by
AS 09.55.240(d)(1) — (6), and may not be exercised for purposes expressed in
AS 09.55.240(e).
(c) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
(d) In this section,
(1) “economic development” has the meaning given in
AS 09.55.240;
(2) “private person” has the meaning given in
AS 09.55.240.
Sec. 29.35.040. Emergency disaster powers.
(a) A municipality that is wholly or partially in an area that is declared by the President or governor to be a disaster area may participate in and provide for housing, urban renewal, and redevelopment in the same manner as a home rule city. The exercise of these powers by a borough shall be on a nonareawide basis, except a borough may exercise the powers transferred to it by a city as provided by
AS 29.35.310.
(b) Powers granted by this section must be initiated within a period of not more than five years after the date of declaration of a natural disaster by the President or governor, but these powers may be extended for an additional period of not more than three years.
Sec. 29.35.050. Garbage and solid waste services.
(a) Notwithstanding
AS 29.35.200 — 29.35.220, a municipality may by ordinance
(1) provide for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of a system of garbage and solid waste collection and disposal for the entire municipality, or for districts or portions of it;
(2) require all persons in the municipality or district to use the system and to dispose of their garbage and solid waste as provided in the ordinance;
(3) award contracts for collection and disposal, or provide for the collection and disposal of garbage and solid waste by municipal officials and employees;
(4) pay for garbage and solid waste collection and disposal from available money;
(5) require property owners or occupants of premises to use the garbage and solid waste collection and disposal system provided by the municipality;
(6) fix charges against the property owners or occupants of premises for the collection and disposal; and
(7) provide penalties for violations of the ordinances.
(b) The governing body of a municipality may not prohibit a person holding a valid certificate from the former Alaska Public Utilities Commission or from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska from continuing to collect and dispose of garbage, refuse, trash, or other waste material, or provide other related services in an area in the municipality if the certificate authorizes the collection and disposal of garbage, refuse, trash, or other waste material and providing of other services in the area, and the certificate was originally issued before the municipality provided similar services. Except as provided in (c) of this section, a municipality may not provide for a garbage, refuse, trash, or other waste material collection and disposal service in an area to the extent it lies in an area granted to a garbage, refuse, trash, or other waste material carrier by a certificate issued by the former Alaska Public Utilities Commission or by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to the carrier until it has purchased the certificate, equipment, and facilities of the carrier, or that portion of the certificate that would be affected, at fair market value. A municipality may exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire the certificate, equipment, and facilities of the carrier, or that portion of the certificate that would be affected.
(c) A municipality may establish an intermediate transfer site for the collection and disposal of garbage, refuse, trash, or other waste material without purchasing the certificate, equipment, or facilities of a waste material carrier certificated by the former Alaska Public Utilities Commission or by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. The municipality may, without compensating a certificated waste carrier operating in the area, provide for or contract with a certificated or noncertificated entity to provide for the collection and disposal of waste material left at the intermediate transfer site.
(d) A municipality that owns or operates a landfill or dumping area for the disposal of waste material may, by ordinance, partially or totally exempt from a fee for the use of the landfill or dumping area the disposal of waste material generated from the substantial rehabilitation, renovation, demolition, removal, or replacement of a structure on deteriorated property. The exemption may apply to some or all types of deteriorated property, as provided in the ordinance. An ordinance adopted under this subsection must include specific eligibility requirements and require a written application for the fee exemption. In this subsection, “deteriorated property” has the meaning given in
AS 29.45.050.
(e) Subsections (a) — (c) of this section apply to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.055. Local air quality control program.
A municipality may establish a local air quality control program as provided in
AS 46.14.400 only if the municipality has obtained the consent of its governing body through an ordinance authorizing the participation. This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.060. Franchises and permits.
(a) The assembly acting for the area outside all cities in the borough and the council acting for the area in a city may grant franchises, including exclusive franchise privileges, to a person, corporation, organization, or utility not certificated by the former Alaska Public Utilities Commission or by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and may permit the use of streets and other public places by the franchise holder under regulations prescribed by ordinance.
(b) Unless the grant is made on a competitive basis, the grant of an exclusive right to use a public street or right-of-way for more than five years to a utility or a transportation system not certificated by the former Alaska Public Utilities Commission or by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska shall be valid only if approved by a majority of the voters at an election.
(c) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.070. Public utilities.
(a) The assembly acting for the area outside all cities in the borough and the council acting for the area in a city may regulate, fix, establish, and change the rates and charges imposed for a utility service provided to the municipality or its inhabitants by a utility that is not subject to regulation under
AS 42.05 unless that utility is exempted from regulation under
AS 42.05.711(a), (d) — (k), (o), (p), (r), or (u).
(b) A municipality may provide for a reasonable deposit for meters and service to be given if interest is paid on the deposit.
(c) Unless the utility is owned by the municipality, all rates, charges, and regulations established under this section shall be established by ordinance and shall be reasonable and permit a fair return on invested capital.
(d) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.080. Alcoholic beverages.
(a) A municipality may regulate the possession, barter, sale, importation, and consumption of alcoholic beverages under
AS 04.11.480 — 04.11.509 and
AS 04.21.010.
(b) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.085. Curfew.
(a) A municipality may, by ordinance, provide for a curfew for persons under 18 years of age for whom the disabilities of minority have not been removed for general purposes under
AS 09.55.590 and who have not arrived at the age of majority under
AS 25.20.020.
(b) Notwithstanding
AS 29.25.070(a), for a violation of this section, the court may impose a fine of not more than $250.
(c) The community work provisions of
AS 47.12.030(b)(6) apply to punishment for a minor's conviction of a violation of a curfew ordinance for which a penalty is provided under
AS 29.25.070(a).
Sec. 29.35.090. Municipal property; rights-of-way.
(a) The governing body shall by ordinance establish a formal procedure for acquisition and disposal of land and interests in land by the municipality.
(b) Notwithstanding
AS 29.40.160 or other provisions of law, a municipality may not vacate a right-of-way acquired by the state under former 43 U.S.C. 932. This subsection applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.100. Budget and capital program.
(a) The governing body shall establish the manner for the preparation and submission of the budget and capital program. After a public hearing, the governing body may approve the budget with or without amendments, and shall appropriate the money required for the approved budget.
(b) The governing body may make supplemental and emergency appropriations. Payment may not be authorized or made and an obligation may not be incurred except in accordance with appropriations.
Sec. 29.35.110. Expenditure of borough revenues.
(a) Borough revenues received through taxes collected on an areawide basis by the borough may be expended on general administrative costs and on areawide functions only. Borough revenues received through taxes collected on a nonareawide basis may be expended on general administrative costs and functions that render service only to the area outside all cities in the borough.
(b) Use of borough revenues from a sales tax levied upon room rentals for a tourism marketing campaign is not subject to (a) of this section.
(c) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a borough that has entered into an agreement with a city located in the borough to cooperatively or jointly provide for economic development may use borough revenue from taxes, whether collected on an areawide or nonareawide basis, to carry out the terms of the agreement.
Sec. 29.35.120. Annual audit.
(a) The governing body shall provide for an annual independent audit of the accounts and financial transactions of the municipality or, in the case of a second class city, an audit or statement of annual income and expenditures. To make the audit the governing body shall designate a public accountant who has no personal interest, direct or indirect, in the fiscal affairs of the municipality. Copies of the audit shall be available to the public upon request.
(b) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.125. Fees for police protection services.
(a) A municipality may by ordinance impose a fee on the owner of residential property, including multi-family housing, if a member of the municipal police department goes to the property an excessive number of times during a calendar year in response to a call for assistance, a complaint, an emergency, or a potential emergency. The number of responses considered to be excessive and the amount of the fee shall be set out in the ordinance that establishes the fee. The fee may not exceed the actual cost to the municipality for the excessive responses. A fee may not be imposed under this subsection for responses to calls that involve potential child neglect, potential domestic violence, as defined in
AS 18.66.990, or potential stalking under
AS 11.41.260 or 11.41.270.
(b) An ordinance enacted under this section shall require actual notice to the property owner of police contacts and a warning that failure to take appropriate corrective action may result in the imposition of a fee. The ordinance must also define “appropriate corrective action” to include written notice to quit under
AS 09.45.100 — 09.45.110 in appropriate situations as well as other types of corrective action, and provide that the property owner is not liable for the fee if that action is promptly taken.
(c) A municipality may provide that a fee imposed under (a) of this section is a lien on the property to which the municipal police have been called an excessive number of times and may provide for the recording and notice of the lien. When recorded, a lien under this subsection has priority over all other liens except
(1) liens for property taxes, special assessments, and sales and use taxes;
(2) liens that were perfected before the recording of the lien under this subsection; and
(3) mechanics' and materialmen's liens for which claims of lien under
AS 34.35.070 or notices of right to lien under
AS 34.35.064 have been recorded before the recording of the lien under this subsection.
(d) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.130. Emergency services communications centers.
(a) A municipality may establish an emergency services communications center with one or more other municipalities and one or more state, federal, or private agencies that provide emergency service communications to the same geographic area. An emergency services communications center established under this section may be organized and operated as a public nonprofit corporation under
AS 10.20.
(b) An emergency services communications center under this section may be governed by a board of directors. A member of a board of directors of an emergency services communications center serves without compensation but is entitled to per diem and travel expenses. If an emergency services communications center is organized as a nonprofit corporation, a member of its board of directors may not be employed by the nonprofit corporation.
(c) An emergency services communications center may assess the feasibility and desirability of providing emergency services communications for the geographic area in which it is located through one central office. An emergency services communications center may
(1) combine or coordinate the existing emergency services communications programs of the participating municipalities and agencies;
(2) operate a dispatch center to receive all requests for emergency services and dispatch those services;
(3) study the need for improvement in the timely delivery of emergency services to residents of the participating municipalities;
(4) hold public hearings to obtain information concerning the timely delivery of emergency services;
(5) apply for and accept federal, state, municipal, and private money, property, or assistance for use in providing the timely delivery of emergency services;
(6) enter into contracts to carry out the provisions of this section;
(7) employ personnel necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
(d) In this section,
(1) “emergency services” means services provided by law enforcement agencies, fire departments, ambulance services, and other organizations that are intended to respond to emergency situations of imminent danger to life or property;
(2) “state agency” means a department, division, or office in the executive branch of state government.
Sec. 29.35.131. 911 surcharge.
(a) A municipality may, by resolution or ordinance, elect to provide an enhanced 911 system at public safety answering points and may purchase or lease the enhanced 911 equipment or service required to establish or maintain an enhanced 911 system at public safety answering points from a local exchange telephone company or other qualified vendor. The municipality may impose an enhanced 911 surcharge within the enhanced 911 service area. An enhanced 911 surcharge may not exceed $2 per month for each wireless telephone number and $2 per month for each local exchange access line for wireline telephones. The maximum surcharge amount of $2 provided for in this subsection may be increased above that level if the surcharge amount is approved by the voters of the enhanced 911 service area. The amount of surcharge imposed for each wireless telephone number must equal the amount imposed for each local exchange access line for a wireline telephone. An enhanced 911 service area may be all of a city, all of a unified municipality, or all or part of the area within a borough and may include the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality in accordance with
AS 29.35.020. The governing body of a municipality shall review an enhanced 911 surcharge annually to determine whether the current level of the surcharge is adequate, excessive, or insufficient to meet anticipated enhanced 911 system needs. When a municipality imposes an enhanced 911 surcharge or the amount of the surcharge is changed, the municipality shall notify in writing the telephone customers subject to the surcharge and provide an explanation of what the surcharge will be used for.
(b) A local exchange telephone company providing service in a municipality that has imposed an enhanced 911 surcharge shall bill each month and collect the surcharge from customers in the enhanced 911 service area. A wireless telephone company that provides telephone service to wireless telephone customers with billing addresses within the enhanced 911 service area shall impose an enhanced 911 surcharge each month and collect the surcharge from customers in the enhanced 911 service area. A local exchange telephone customer may not be subject to more than one enhanced 911 surcharge on a local exchange access line for a wireline telephone. A wireless telephone customer may not be subject to more than one enhanced 911 surcharge for each wireless telephone number. A customer that has more than 100 local exchange access lines from a local exchange telephone company in the municipality is liable for the enhanced 911 surcharge only on 100 local exchange access lines.
(c) A local exchange telephone company or wireless telephone company shall include the appropriate enhanced 911 surcharge, stated separately and included in the total amount owed, in the bills delivered to its customers. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska may not consider the enhanced 911 surcharge as revenue of the telephone company and has no jurisdiction over an enhanced 911 system. A customer is liable for payment of the enhanced 911 surcharge in the amounts billed by the telephone company until the amounts have been paid to the telephone company.
(d) A local exchange telephone company or wireless telephone company that has collected the enhanced 911 surcharge shall remit the amounts collected to the municipality no later than 60 days after the end of the month in which the amount was collected. From each remittance made in a timely manner under this subsection, the telephone company is entitled to deduct and retain the greater of one percent of the collected amount or $150 as the cost of administration for collecting the enhanced 911 surcharge. In addition, a wireless telephone company is entitled to full recovery of the recurring and nonrecurring costs associated with implementation and operation of Phase I E911 service as allowed under Federal Communications Commission proceedings entitled “Revision of the Commission's Rules to Ensure Compatibility with Enhanced 9-1-1 Emergency Calling Systems” (CC Docket No. 94-102; RM-8143).
(e) A local exchange telephone company or wireless telephone company is not obligated to take legal action to enforce collection of the enhanced 911 surcharge. However, if a telephone company is attempting to collect an unpaid debt from a customer, the telephone company shall also attempt to collect any unpaid enhanced 911 surcharge that the customer owes. If a customer pays a portion of a bill that includes an enhanced 911 surcharge, the amount paid shall be prorated between the telephone company and the enhanced 911 surcharge. The telephone company shall annually provide the municipality with a list of the amounts due for the nonpayment of enhanced 911 surcharges, together with the names and addresses of those customers who carry a balance that can be determined by the telephone company to be for the nonpayment of the enhanced 911 surcharges. The telephone company is not liable for uncollected amounts.
(f) The municipality may, at its own expense, require an annual audit of a local exchange telephone company's or wireless telephone company's books and records concerning the collection and remittance of the enhanced 911 surcharge.
(g) A village, as defined in
AS 09.65.070(e), or a public corporation established by a municipality has the powers granted to a municipality under this section.
(h) [Repealed, § 6 ch 55 SLA 2005.]
(i) A municipality may only use the enhanced 911 surcharge revenue for those costs of the enhanced 911 system that are authorized in this subsection. The surcharge revenue may not be used for any capital or operational costs for emergency responses that occur after the call is dispatched to the emergency responder. The surcharge revenue may not be used for constructing buildings, leasing buildings, maintaining buildings, or renovating buildings, except for the modification of an existing building to the extent that is necessary to maintain the security and environmental integrity of the public safety answering point and equipment rooms. The surcharge revenue may be used for the following costs to the extent the costs are directly attributable to the establishment, maintenance, and operation of an enhanced 911 system:
(1) the acquisition, implementation, and maintenance of public safety answering point equipment and 911 service features;
(2) the acquisition, installation, and maintenance of other equipment, including call answering equipment, call transfer equipment, automatic number identification controllers and displays, automatic location identification controllers and displays, station instruments, 911 telecommunications systems, teleprinters, logging recorders, instant playback recorders, telephone devices for the deaf, public safety answering point backup power systems, consoles, automatic call distributors, and hardware and software interfaces for computer-aided dispatch systems;
(3) the salaries and associated expenses for 911 call takers for that portion of time spent taking and transferring 911 calls;
(4) training costs for public safety answering point call takers in the proper methods and techniques used in taking and transferring 911 calls;
(5) expenses required to develop and maintain all information necessary to properly inform call takers as to location address, type of emergency, and other information directly relevant to the 911 call-taking and transferring function, including automatic location identification and automatic number identification databases.
(j) If a city in an enhanced 911 service area established by a borough incurs costs described under (i) of this section for the enhanced 911 system, before the borough may use revenue from an enhanced 911 surcharge, the borough and city must execute an agreement addressing the duties and responsibilities of each for the enhanced 911 system and establishing priorities for the use of the surcharge revenue. If the Department of Public Safety also provides services as part of the enhanced 911 system or uses the enhanced 911 system in that enhanced 911 service area, the department must be a party to the agreement.
(k) For purposes of (i) of this section, “call taker” means a person employed in a primary or secondary answering point whose duties include the initial answering of 911 or enhanced 911 calls and routing the calls to the agency or dispatch center responsible for dispatching appropriate emergency services and a person in a primary or secondary answering point whose duties include receiving a 911 or enhanced 911 call either directly or routed from another answering point and dispatching appropriate emergency services in response to the call; the term “call taker” is synonymous with the term “dispatcher” in that it is inclusive of the functions of both answering the 911 or enhanced 911 calls and dispatching emergency services in response to the calls.
Sec. 29.35.133. Immunity for 911 systems.
(a) The establishment, funding, use, operation, or maintenance of enhanced 911 systems and all activities associated with those actions are specifically found to be within the ambit of
AS 09.50.250(1) and
AS 09.65.070(d)(6). Except for intentional acts of misconduct or gross negligence, a service supplier, local exchange telephone company, or wireless telephone company and their employees and agents are also immune from tort liability that might otherwise be incurred in the course of installing, training, maintaining, or providing enhanced 911 systems or transmitting or receiving calls on the system.
(b) An individual, telephone company, or employee of a telephone company who operates or maintains an emergency 911 service is not liable for civil damages in a tort action as a result of an act, omission, failure of service, or incorrect information done or given in good faith.
(c) In this section, “service supplier” means a person that provides or offers to provide telecommunications equipment or services necessary for the establishment, maintenance, or operation of an enhanced 911 system.
Sec. 29.35.134. Multi-line telephone systems.
(a) A municipality may by ordinance require a multi-line telephone system operator to comply with this section if, after January 1, 2019, the system operator
(1) upgrades an existing multi-line telephone system; or
(2) installs a new multi-line telephone system.
(b) The operator of a multi-line telephone system that is required to comply with this section shall ensure that the system
(1) allows a caller to call 911 by dialing 911 directly without an additional code, digit, prefix, postfix, or trunk-access code;
(2) for every 911 call made using the system, provides to the public safety answering point receiving the call verified automated number and location information for the call, including
(A) the street name, valid address, and business name, if applicable;
(B) the direct callback telephone number;
(C) the office, unit, or building number, as applicable;
(D) the room number or equivalent designation;
(E) if the multi-line telephone system operates for a building that has more than one floor, the building floor;
(F) if the multi-line telephone system operates for more than one building, the
(i) building number or equivalent designation; and
(ii) building floor; and
(3) has a location database that stores the information required under (2) of this subsection and that the system is updated
(A) as soon as practicable after the system is installed; and
(B) within one business day after completion of any changes made to the system or the physical characteristics of the facility where the system is used; this subparagraph does not apply to changes incurred during the installation of the system.
(c) Information in a location database created under (b)(3) of this section
(1) is owned by the multi-line telephone system operator that supplied the information;
(2) may not be shared, except as required by law; and
(3) may not be used by a public safety answering point for any purpose except to facilitate an emergency response to a 911 call.
(d) The operator of a multi-line telephone system that is not required by ordinance to comply with this section and that does not allow for direct 911 dialing shall post, in a visible place not more than five feet from each telephone that is connected to the multi-line telephone system, a notice that
(1) states that 911 services cannot be accessed by dialing 911 directly on the telephone;
(2) indicates how a caller may access 911 services through the telephone;
(3) is printed in contrasting colors in a bold font not smaller than 16 points;
(4) includes the following information, as applicable, about the location of the telephone:
(A) the street address and business name;
(B) the office, unit, or building number;
(C) the room number or equivalent designation.
(e) In this section,
(1) “multi-line telephone system” includes
(A) a network or premises-based telephone system
(i) installed at an end-use location that uses common control units, common telephone, and common control hardware and software to provide a connection to the public;
(ii) such as Centrex, Voice over Internet Protocol, and PBX, Hybrid, and Key Telephone Systems, as classified by the Federal Communications Commission under 47 C.F.R. Part 68 requirements; and
(B) systems owned or leased by government agencies and nonprofit and for-profit entities;
(2) “multi-line telephone system operator” means an entity that owns, leases, or rents from a third party, and operates a multi-line telephone system by which a caller may place a 911 call through a public switched network.
Sec. 29.35.135. Waiver of privacy by local exchange telephone company subscribers.
Local exchange telephone company subscribers waive the privacy afforded by unlisted or unpublished telephone numbers to the extent that the name and address associated with the telephone number may be furnished to the enhanced 911 system for call routing or for automatic retrieval of location information in response to a call initiated to the system.
Sec. 29.35.137. Definitions.
In
AS 29.35.131 — 29.35.137,
(1) “enhanced 911 equipment” means the equipment dedicated to the operation of, or use in, the establishment, operation, or maintenance of an enhanced 911 system, including customer premises equipment, automatic number identification or automatic location identification controllers and display units, printers, cathode ray tubes, recorders, software, and other essential communication equipment required by the system;
(2) “enhanced 911 service area” means the area within a municipality's jurisdiction that has been designated to receive enhanced 911 service; the designation of an area to receive an enhanced 911 system under
AS 29.35.131(a) does not designate the area as a “service area” for purposes of art. X, sec. 5, Constitution of the State of Alaska;
(3) “enhanced 911 system” means a telephone system consisting of network, database, and enhanced 911 equipment that uses the single three digit number, 911, for reporting a police, fire, medical, or other emergency situation, and that enables the users of a public telephone system to reach a public safety answering point to report emergencies by dialing 911; an enhanced 911 system includes the personnel required to acquire, install, operate, and maintain the system and its facilities and to dispatch the calls generated by the system;
(4) “local exchange access line” means a telephone line that connects a local exchange service customer to the local exchange telephone company switching office and has the capability of reaching local public safety agencies, but does not include a line used by a carrier to provide interexchange services;
(5) “local exchange service” means the transmission of two-way interactive switched voice communications furnished by a local exchange telephone company within a local exchange area, including access to enhanced 911 systems; in this paragraph, “local exchange area” means a geographic area encompassing one or more political subdivisions as described in maps, tariffs, or rate schedules filed with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, where local exchange rates apply;
(6) “local exchange telephone company” means a telephone utility certificated under
AS 42.05 to provide local exchange service;
(7) “municipality” has the meaning given in
AS 29.71.800 and includes a public corporation established by a municipality and a village as that term is defined in
AS 09.65.070(e);
(8) “public safety answering point” means a 24-hour local jurisdiction communications facility that receives 911 service calls and directly dispatches emergency response services or that relays calls to the appropriate public or private safety agency;
(9) “wireless telephone” means a telephone that is not a wireline telephone and includes cellular and mobile telephones; each wireless telephone number is considered to be a separate wireless telephone;
(10) “wireless telephone company” means a telephone utility that provides telephone service for wireless telephone customers who receive monthly or periodic bills sent to an address within a designated enhanced 911 service area;
(11) “wireline telephone” means a telephone that uses a local exchange access line.
Sec. 29.35.138. Application.
AS 29.35.131 — 29.35.137 apply to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.140. Regulation of transportation carriers.
A municipality may not regulate an activity regarding transportation of passengers or freight for hire if the regulation conflicts with the regulation of that activity by the Alaska Transportation Commission as the regulation existed on April 1, 1983, under former
AS 02.05, former
AS 42.07, or former
AS 42.10.
Sec. 29.35.141. Regulation of radio antennas.
(a) A municipality that regulates the placement, screening, or height of radio antennas must reasonably accommodate amateur radio antennas. A municipality may require reasonable and customary engineering practices to be followed in the erection of amateur radio antennas. A municipality may impose only the minimum requirements relating to amateur radio antennas that are necessary to accomplish the legitimate purposes intended to be served by the requirements.
(b) A municipality may not restrict the number of support structures for an amateur radio antenna. Based on the most recently published United States census, a municipal restriction on amateur radio antenna height may not be lower than
(1) 200 feet above ground level as permitted by the Federal Communications Commission in an area with a population density of 120 or less per square mile;
(2) 75 feet above ground level in an area with a population density of more than 120 per square mile for an antenna on a lot that is smaller than one acre; or
(3) 140 feet above ground level in an area with a population density of more than 120 per square mile for an antenna on a lot that is one acre or larger.
(c) Subject to (a) and (b) of this section, a municipality may, by ordinance, impose requirements to meet clearly defined objectives relating to screening, placement, aesthetic, and health and safety factors with respect to the erection, maintenance, and operation of amateur radio antennas.
(d) An ordinance regulating or restricting radio antennas adopted under this section may not apply to a radio antenna that was erected before July 26, 2001.
(e) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.144. Sprinkler systems in certain residential buildings.
(a) Except as provided by (b) of this section, a municipality may not require a sprinkler fire protection system to be included in the construction of all new single-family residential buildings or in the construction of all new residential buildings with not more than two dwelling units.
(b) A municipality may, by ordinance, require a sprinkler fire protection system to be included in the construction of all new single-family residential buildings, in the construction of all new residential buildings with not more than two dwelling units, or in both types of buildings. Before adopting an ordinance to implement this subsection, or before amending an ordinance to extend its coverage to residential buildings described in this subsection, in addition to complying with the other requirements relating to the adoption of an ordinance, the governing body of the municipality shall
(1) notwithstanding the publication requirement in
AS 29.25.020(b)(3) or a comparable notice publication requirement of a home rule municipality, at least 30 days before the first scheduled public hearing for the ordinance, publish
(A) a summary of the ordinance or ordinance amendment; and
(B) a notice of the time and place of each scheduled public hearing on the proposed ordinance or amendment; and
(2) notwithstanding the public hearing schedule requirement of
AS 29.25.020(b)(6) or comparable public hearing scheduling requirement of a home rule municipality, schedule at least three public hearings on the proposed ordinance or ordinance amendment to be held within a period of not less than 60 days and not more than 180 days.
(c) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.145. Regulation of firearms and knives.
(a) The authority to regulate firearms and knives is reserved to the state, and, except as specifically provided by statute, a municipality may not enact or enforce an ordinance regulating the possession, ownership, sale, transfer, use, carrying, transportation, licensing, taxation, or registration of firearms or knives.
(b) Municipalities may enact and enforce ordinances
(1) that are identical to state law and that have the same penalty as provided for by state law;
(2) restricting the discharge of firearms in any portion of their respective jurisdictions where there is a reasonable likelihood that people, domestic animals, or property will be jeopardized; ordinances enacted or enforced under this paragraph may not abridge the right of the individual guaranteed by art. I, sec. 19, Constitution of the State of Alaska, to bear arms in defense of self or others;
(3) restricting the areas in their respective jurisdictions in which firearms or knives may be sold; a business selling firearms or knives may not be treated more restrictively than other businesses located within the same zone; and
(4) prohibiting the possession of firearms or knives in the restricted access area of municipal government buildings; the municipal assembly shall post notice of the prohibition against possession of firearms or knives at each entrance to the restricted access area.
(c) The prohibition on taxation in (a) of this section does not include imposition of a sales tax that is levied on all products sold within a municipality.
(d) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
(e) In this section,
(1) “firearms” includes firearms, or any other element relating to firearms or parts thereof including ammunition and reloading components;
(2) “restricted access area” means the area beyond a secure point where visitors are screened and does not include common areas of ingress and egress open to the general public.
Sec. 29.35.146. Regulation of unmanned aircraft systems.
(a) A municipality may not adopt an ordinance that permits the release of images captured by an unmanned aircraft system in a manner inconsistent with
AS 18.65.903.
(b) In this section, “unmanned aircraft system” has the meaning given in
AS 18.65.909.
Sec. 29.35.147. Licensing of massage therapists.
(a) The authority to license massage therapists is reserved to the state, and, except as specifically provided by statute, a municipality may not enact or enforce an ordinance requiring professional licensure of massage therapists.
(b) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.148. Regulation of transportation network companies or drivers.
(a) The authority to regulate transportation network companies and transportation network company drivers is reserved to the state, and, except as specifically provided by statute, a municipality may not enact or enforce an ordinance regulating transportation network companies or transportation network company drivers.
(b) The prohibition on regulation under (a) of this section does not include
(1) imposition of a municipal sales tax on a transportation network company driver that taxes a trip originating in the municipality in the same manner that other services are taxed in the municipality; in imposing a sales tax as permitted by this paragraph, a municipality may require the transportation network company to collect and pay the municipal sales tax on behalf of transportation network company drivers;
(2) a municipal traffic ordinance.
(c) Notwithstanding
AS 28.01.010 or (a) of this section, a municipality may by ordinance ratified by the voters in a regular municipal election prohibit transportation network companies from conducting activities under
AS 28.23 within the municipality.
(d) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
(e) In this section,
(1) “transportation network company” has the meaning given in
AS 28.23.180;
(2) “transportation network company driver” has the meaning given in
AS 28.23.180.
Sec. 29.35.149. Regulation of dextromethorphan.
(a) The authority to regulate dextromethorphan is reserved to the state, and, except as specifically provided by statute, a municipality may not enact or enforce an ordinance regulating the possession or sale of dextromethorphan.
(b) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Article 2. Mandatory Areawide Powers.
Sec. 29.35.150. Scope of areawide powers.
A borough shall exercise the powers as specified and in the manner specified in
AS 29.35.150 — 29.35.180 on an areawide basis.
Sec. 29.35.160. Education.
(a) Each borough constitutes a borough school district and establishes, maintains, and operates a system of public schools on an areawide basis as provided in
AS 14.14.060. A military reservation in a borough is not part of the borough school district until the military mission is terminated or until inclusion in the borough school district is approved by the Department of Education and Early Development. However, operation of the military reservation schools by the borough school district may be required by the Department of Education and Early Development under
AS 14.14.110. If the military mission of a military reservation terminates or continued management and control by a regional educational attendance area is disapproved by the Department of Education and Early Development, operation, management, and control of schools on the military reservation transfers to the borough school district in which the military reservation is located.
(b) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.170. Assessment and collection of taxes.
(a) A borough shall assess and collect property, sales, and use taxes that are levied in its boundaries, subject to
AS 29.45.
(b) Taxes levied by a city shall be collected by a borough and returned in full to the levying city. This subsection applies to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.180. Land use regulation.
(a) A first or second class borough shall provide for planning, platting, and land use regulation in accordance with
AS 29.40.
(b) A home rule borough shall provide for planning, platting, and land use regulation.
Article 3. Additional Powers.
Sec. 29.35.200. First class borough powers.
(a) A first class borough may exercise by ordinance on a nonareawide basis any power not otherwise prohibited by law.
(b) A first class borough may by ordinance exercise the following powers on an areawide basis:
(1) provide transportation systems;
(2) provide water pollution control;
(3) provide air pollution control in accordance with
AS 46.14.400;
(4) license day care facilities;
(5) license, impound, and dispose of animals;
(6) establish an energy improvement assessment program under
AS 29.55.100 — 29.55.165.
(c) In addition to powers conferred by (b) of this section, a first class borough may, on an areawide basis, exercise a power not otherwise prohibited by law if the power has been acquired in accordance with
AS 29.35.300.
(d) A first class borough that exercises power necessary to contain, clean up, or prevent a release or threatened release of oil or a hazardous substance, and exercises a power granted to a municipality under
AS 46.04,
AS 46.08, or
AS 46.09 shall exercise its authority in a manner that is consistent with a regional master plan prepared by the Department of Environmental Conservation under
AS 46.04.210.
Sec. 29.35.210. Second class borough powers.
(a) A second class borough may by ordinance exercise the following powers on a nonareawide basis:
(1) provide transportation systems;
(2) regulate the offering for sale, exposure for sale, sale, use, or explosion of fireworks;
(3) license, impound, and dispose of animals;
(4) subject to
AS 29.35.050, provide garbage, solid waste, and septic waste collection and disposal;
(5) provide air pollution control under
AS 46.14.400;
(6) provide water pollution control;
(7) participate in federal or state loan programs for housing rehabilitation and improvement for energy conservation;
(8) provide for economic development;
(9) provide for the acquisition and construction of local service roads and trails under
AS 19.30.111 — 19.30.251;
(10) establish an emergency services communications center under
AS 29.35.130;
(11) subject to
AS 28.01.010, regulate the licensing and operation of motor vehicles and operators;
(12) engage in activities authorized under
AS 29.47.460;
(13) contain, clean up, or prevent a release or threatened release of oil or a hazardous substance, and exercise a power granted to a municipality under
AS 46.04,
AS 46.08, or
AS 46.09; the borough shall exercise its authority under this paragraph in a manner that is consistent with a regional master plan prepared by the Department of Environmental Conservation under
AS 46.04.210;
(14) establish an energy improvement assessment program under
AS 29.55.100 — 29.55.165.
(b) A second class borough may by ordinance exercise the following powers on an areawide basis:
(1) provide transportation systems;
(2) license, impound, and dispose of animals;
(3) provide air pollution control under
AS 46.14.400;
(4) provide water pollution control;
(5) license day care facilities;
(6) establish an energy improvement assessment program under
AS 29.55.100 — 29.55.165.
(c) In addition to powers conferred by (a) of this section, a second class borough may, on a nonareawide basis, exercise a power not otherwise prohibited by law if the exercise of the power has been approved at an election by a majority of voters living in the borough but outside all cities in the borough.
(d) In addition to powers conferred by (b) of this section, a second class borough may, on an areawide basis, exercise a power not otherwise prohibited by law if the power has been acquired in accordance with
AS 29.35.300.
Sec. 29.35.220. Third class borough powers.
(a) A third class borough may borrow money and issue negotiable or nonnegotiable bonds or other evidences of indebtedness as provided by
AS 29.47.
(b) Areawide exercise of a power by a third class borough other than education and tax assessment and collection is not authorized.
(c) A third class borough may acquire the power to provide for planning, platting, and land use regulation as provided in
AS 29.40 for first and second class boroughs, except the power may only be exercised within a service area.
(d) A third class borough may acquire any power not otherwise prohibited by law, except the power may only be exercised within a service area.
(e) A third class borough may by ordinance exercise power necessary to contain, clean up, or prevent a release or threatened release of oil or a hazardous substance, and exercise a power granted to a municipality under
AS 46.04,
AS 46.08, or
AS 46.09, but the power authorized by this subsection may be exercised only on a nonareawide basis. The borough shall exercise its authority under this subsection in a manner that is consistent with a regional master plan prepared by the Department of Environmental Conservation under
AS 46.04.210.
Article 4. City Powers.
Sec. 29.35.250. Cities inside boroughs.
(a) A city inside a borough may exercise any power not otherwise prohibited by law.
(b) On adoption of a borough ordinance to provide for areawide exercise of a power, no city may exercise the power unless the borough ordinance provides otherwise or the borough by ordinance ceases to exercise the power.
(c) A home rule city in a third class borough shall provide for planning, platting, and land use regulation as provided by
AS 29.35.180(b) for home rule boroughs. A first class city in a third class borough shall provide for planning, platting, and land use regulation as provided by
AS 29.35.180(a) for first and second class boroughs. A second class city in a third class borough may provide for planning, platting, and land use regulation as provided by
AS 29.35.180(a) for first and second class boroughs.
(d) This section applies to home rule and general law cities.
Sec. 29.35.260. Cities outside boroughs.
(a) A city outside a borough may exercise a power not otherwise prohibited by law. A provision that is incorporated by reference to laws governing boroughs applies to home rule cities outside boroughs only if the provision is made applicable to home rule boroughs.
(b) A home rule or first class city outside a borough is a city school district and shall establish, operate, and maintain a system of public schools as provided by
AS 29.35.160 for boroughs. A second class city outside a borough is not a school district and may not establish a system of public schools.
(c) A home rule city outside a borough shall provide for planning, platting, and land use regulation as provided by
AS 29.35.180(b) for home rule boroughs. A first class city outside a borough shall, and a second class city outside a borough may, provide for planning, platting, and land use regulation as provided by
AS 29.35.180(a) for first and second class boroughs.
(d) This section applies to home rule and general law cities.
Article 5. Acquisition of Additional Powers.
Sec. 29.35.300. Additional powers.
(a) A first class borough acquires an additional areawide power by transfer of the power by a city or by holding an areawide election on the question.
(b) A second class borough acquires an additional power by transfer of the power by a city or by holding an election on the question. For acquisition of an areawide power, the election shall be held areawide. For acquisition of a nonareawide power, the election shall be held nonareawide.
(c) A third class borough acquires an additional power to exercise in a service area by forming a service area in accordance with
AS 29.35.490(b) or (c).
Sec. 29.35.310. Transfer by city.
(a) A city in a first or second class borough may transfer to the borough in which it is located any of its powers or functions, subject to the approval of the assembly.
(b) A first or second class borough shall exercise all powers transferred to it by a city.
Sec. 29.35.320. Initiation of acquisition of power.
(a) An election on the question of adding an areawide power in a first class borough or of adding an areawide or nonareawide power in a second class borough may be initiated in two ways:
(1) a number of voters equal to 15 percent of the number of votes cast at the preceding regular election in the area, either areawide or nonareawide, in which the election is to be held may file a petition with the borough clerk; or
(2) the assembly may propose the acquisition of the power.
(b) An election on the question of adding a power in a third class borough for exercise in a service area may be initiated in two ways:
(1) a number of voters equal to 15 percent of the number of votes cast at the preceding regular election in a proposed service area in which the power is sought to be exercised may file a petition with the assembly; or
(2) the assembly may propose the acquisition of the power.
(c) The borough clerk shall certify whether a petition filed under (a) or (b) of this section contains the required number of signatures.
(d) Within 30 days after a petition is certified as containing the required number of signatures or the assembly proposes the acquisition of a power, at least one public hearing shall be held in the borough on the question. The assembly shall then evaluate the ability of the borough to exercise the power and make its findings public. Within 60 days after its findings have been made public, the assembly shall order an election on the question.
Sec. 29.35.330. Election.
(a) If more than one power is proposed for acquisition under
AS 29.35.320, each shall appear separately on the ballot.
(b) If a power is proposed for exercise by a third class borough in a service area, only voters residing in the proposed service area may vote.
(c) A vote on the question of adding an areawide power in a first or second class borough shall be tabulated in two separate classifications. One shall consist of all votes cast in all cities located in the borough. The other shall consist of all votes cast in the borough area outside all cities. If the majority of the votes cast in each classification is favorable, the borough shall assume the added power within 30 days after certification of the election results.
(d) If a majority of the votes cast on the question of adding a nonareawide power in a second class borough or a power to be exercised in a service area in a third class borough is favorable, the borough shall assume the added power within 30 days after certification of the election results.
(e) The borough mayor shall certify the election results to the department.
Sec. 29.35.340. Effect of acquiring an areawide power.
(a) On acquisition of an areawide power the first or second class borough succeeds to all of the rights, powers, and duties of any city or service area with respect to that power. The borough succeeds to claims, franchises, and other contractual obligations, liability for bonded and all other indebtedness, and to all of the right, title, and interest in the real and personal property held by a city or service area for the exercise of the power.
(b) The assembly may levy and collect special charges, taxes, or assessments including interest for the purpose of amortizing bonded indebtedness previously incurred by a city or service area for exercising an areawide power acquired by the borough. When a city or service area had previously incurred bonded indebtedness, all property that was in the city or service area at the time the bonds were issued remains subject to taxation to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds.
(c) On acquisition of an additional areawide power the first or second class borough, in consultation with the city or service area personnel, shall arrange for an orderly and equitable transfer of rights, assets, liabilities, powers, duties, and other matters related to acquisition of the areawide powers.
(d) This section applies to home rule and general law cities.
Sec. 29.35.350. Definition.
In
AS 29.35.200 — 29.35.350, “power” means the provision of a public facility or service, or the exercise of a regulatory power.
Article 6. Construction of Powers.
Sec. 29.35.400. General construction.
A liberal construction shall be given to all powers and functions of a municipality conferred in this title.
Sec. 29.35.410. Extent of powers.
Unless otherwise limited by law, a municipality has and may exercise all powers and functions necessarily or fairly implied in or incident to the purpose of all powers and functions conferred in this title.
Sec. 29.35.420. Enumeration of powers.
A specific example in an enumerated power or function conferred upon a municipality in this title is illustrative of the object and not a limitation on or exclusion from the exercise of the power or function.
Article 7. Service Areas.
Sec. 29.35.450. Service areas.
(a) A service area to provide special services in a borough or unified municipality may be established, operated, altered, or abolished by ordinance, subject to (c) of this section. Special services include services not provided by the unified municipality or a higher or different level of services. Special services include services not provided by a borough on an areawide or nonareawide basis in the borough or a higher or different level of services than that provided on an areawide or nonareawide basis. A borough may include a city in a service area if
(1) the city agrees by ordinance; or
(2) approval is granted by a majority of voters residing in the city, and by a majority of voters residing inside the boundaries of the proposed service area but outside of the city.
(b) A new service area may not be established if, consistent with the purposes of art. X, Constitution of the State of Alaska, the new service can be provided by an existing service area, by annexation to a city, or by incorporation as a city.
(c) If voters reside within a service area that provides road, fire protection, or parks and recreation services, abolishment of the service area is subject to approval by the majority of the voters residing in the service area who vote on the question. A service area that provides road, fire protection, or parks and recreation services in which voters reside may not be abolished and replaced by a larger service area unless that proposal is approved, separately, by a majority of the voters who vote on the question residing in the existing service area and by a majority of the voters who vote on the question residing in the area proposed to be included within the new service area but outside of the existing service area. A service area that provides road, fire protection, or parks and recreation services in which voters reside may not be altered or combined with another service area unless that proposal is approved, separately, by a majority of the voters who vote on the question and who reside in each of the service areas or in the area outside of service areas that is affected by the proposal. This subsection does not apply
(1) to a proposed change to a service area that provides fire protection services
(A) that would result in increasing the number of parcels of land in the service area or successor service area if the increase is not more than six percent and would add not more than 1,000 residents;
(B) in a second class borough that would result in
(i) decreasing the number of parcels of land in the service area or successor service area if the owner of the property to be removed from the area requests removal and the removal meets criteria adopted by ordinance; or
(ii) increasing or decreasing the number of parcels of land in the service area or successor service area if the parcel is transferred to a service area that provides more accessible fire protection services to the transferred parcel;
(2) in a second class borough to abolishment of a road service area or consolidation of two or more road service areas if
(A) taxes have not been levied in the service area for road maintenance or construction during the last 12 months and there is no balance in any account available to pay for these road services for the service area;
(B) during the last 12 months, the service area board has not met with a quorum present and in accordance with law; or
(C) there are no road maintenance contracts in effect for the service area or the existing road maintenance contracts fail to provide for minimum road standards required by law that are necessary to protect the borough from civil liability;
(3) to require approval by the voters residing in a subdivision or parcel proposed to be added to a road service area if roads maintained by the service area provide the only access to the subdivision or parcel or provide access to the subdivision or parcel that is required by the subdivision plat or by other regulation or ordinance;
(4) to a change in the boundaries of a road service area to exclude a subdivision or parcel that does not rely on the use of roads maintained by the service area for the subdivision's or parcel's only access or for access that is required by the subdivision plat or by other regulation or ordinance;
(5) to a change in the boundaries of a road service area to include or exclude a parcel that is located in more than one service area so that the parcel is only located in one road service area;
(6) to a change in the boundaries of a road service area to include a parcel that is partially located in the road service area if roads maintained by the service area provide the only access to the parcel.
(d) This section applies to a home rule or general law municipality.
Sec. 29.35.460. Service area boards.
The assembly may provide for an appointed or elected board to supervise the furnishing of special services in a service area.
Sec. 29.35.470. Financing.
(a) The assembly may levy or authorize the levying of taxes, charges, or assessments in a service area to finance the special services. If the assembly authorizes the levying of taxes, charges, or assessments, the rate of taxation and the issuance of bonds are subject to assembly approval.
(b) The assembly may by ordinance establish, alter, and abolish differential tax zones within a service area to provide and levy property taxes for a different level of services than that provided generally in the service area. Taxes levied within a differential tax zone that exceed the amount that would have otherwise been levied may only be used for the services provided in that zone.
Sec. 29.35.480. Service areas in first class boroughs.
In a first class borough, the assembly may exercise in a service area any power granted a first class city by law. The assembly may exercise in a service area any nonareawide power that may be exercised by a first class borough.
Sec. 29.35.490. Service areas in second and third class boroughs.
(a) A second class borough may exercise in a service area any power granted a first class city by law or a nonareawide power that may be exercised by a first class borough if
(1) the exercise of the power is approved by a majority of the voters residing in the service area; or
(2) all owners of real property in the service area consent in writing to the exercise of the power if no voters reside in the service area.
(b) If the exercise of the power is approved by a majority of the voters residing in the service area, a third class borough may exercise in a service area any power not otherwise prohibited by law.
(c) A second or third class borough may establish a service area that includes only vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved land owned by the borough. A second or third class borough may establish a service area, with the concurrence of the commissioner of natural resources, that includes only vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved land owned by the state and classified for disposal to individuals. By ordinance a second or third class borough may provide the services in a service area established under this subsection necessary to develop state or municipal land as required by the planning, platting, and land use regulations of the borough.
(d) A second class borough may establish a service area for the provision of emergency services within a state highway corridor if no voters reside in the service area. A second class borough may provide emergency services in a service area established under this subsection by ordinance. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a second class borough may not authorize or levy a property tax for the provision of emergency services in a service area established under this subsection. The boundaries of a service area established under this subsection may only include the highway corridor and publicly owned property adjacent to the highway corridor necessary to house emergency response equipment and personnel for the service area.
Article 8. Hazardous Chemicals, Materials, and Wastes.
Sec. 29.35.500. Reporting.
(a) If a municipality establishes a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes, then the municipality shall require a business or a government agency that handles hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes to submit to a designated person or office of the municipality, on a form approved by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission, an inventory of the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes the business or government agency handles. Notwithstanding other provisions of this title, a municipality that establishes a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes may not
(1) use a form other than the one required under this section or use a form in addition to the one required under this section;
(2) require a business or government agency to submit an inventory of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes unless the business or government agency is required to do so by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission;
(3) require reporting under this section of a substance not listed in (c) of this section unless it is added by the commission under (c) of this section;
(4) require reporting under this section of a substance that is in smaller quantities than provided under (c) of this section unless the reporting of smaller quantities is approved by the commission under (c) of this section.
(b) An inventory required under this section must include
(1) the name and address of a facility, and of the owner and operator of the facility, at which the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes are handled;
(2) the names and telephone numbers of persons connected with the facility who are to be contacted in an emergency;
(3) the chemical name or other descriptive information about each hazardous chemical, hazardous material, or hazardous waste handled;
(4) the location and maximum estimated quantity of the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes handled in a single day;
(5) with respect to a transshipment facility; instead of the information required under (3) and (4) of this subsection, the following information:
(A) a list of the classes of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes handled;
(B) a site layout and floor plan showing the usual locations of the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes handled at the facility; and
(C) the method of marking or warning used for hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes at the facility.
(c) Unless the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission or a municipality, after public hearing, removes a substance listed in this subsection from the reporting requirements within its jurisdiction, or unless the commission, after public hearing, adds a substance to the reporting requirements of this subsection or requires the reporting of smaller quantities of the substances listed in this subsection, either on a statewide basis or for reporting within particular municipalities, the following quantities of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes shall be reported in an inventory required under this section:
(1) any quantity of a hazardous material of the hazard class identified in federal placarding regulations as
(A) Poison Gas Hazard Division No. 2.3 and Poisons 6.1;
(B) Explosives 1.1;
(C) Explosives 1.2 and 1.3, excluding smokeless gunpowder, black powder, and ammunition;
(D) Flammable solid Divisions 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3; or
(E) Radioactive Hazard Class 7;
(2) a hazardous chemical, or a hazardous material other than one described in (1) of this subsection, if handled in a single day in an amount equal to or greater than 10,000 pounds;
(3) extremely hazardous substances in a quantity equal to or more than 500 pounds or the threshold planning quantity, whichever is less; and
(4) compressed gasses equal to or more than 1,000 cubic feet at standard temperature and pressure.
(d) A business or government agency required to submit an inventory under this section shall submit the first inventory within 90 days after the municipality's reporting requirements take effect or within 30 days after beginning to engage in the handling of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes. Thereafter, the business or government agency shall submit an inventory annually. With respect to transshipments, the first inventory shall be an estimate of transshipments by the business or government agency during the next 12 months. Subsequent annual inventories shall reflect actual transshipments during the previous 12 months.
(e) A municipality that establishes a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes shall also require a business or government agency that handles hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes to report
(1) significant change in the general location of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes by telephone or other means adequate to convey the information within 24 hours, and in writing within 10 working days, after moving the chemicals, materials, or wastes;
(2) names and other descriptive information of additional hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes being handled since the last inventory or report if they meet the criteria for reporting under (c) of this section, by telephone or other means adequate to convey the information within 24 hours, and in writing within 10 working days, after making the additions;
(3) with respect to a transshipment facility, instead of the information required under (1) and (2) of this subsection, the following:
(A) an additional class of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes handled at the facility, or a change in the method of marking or warning used for hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes at the facility, within 30 days after the addition or change; and
(B) a change to the site layout or floor plan submitted under (b)(5)(B) of this section, by telephone or other means adequate to convey the information within 24 hours, and in writing within 30 days after the change.
(f) A municipality that establishes a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals or hazardous materials may require a business or government agency that handles hazardous chemicals or hazardous materials to submit a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Material Safety Data Sheet or equivalent information for each of the chemicals and materials handled.
(g) The requirements of this section may be imposed by a municipality on a business or government agency that handles hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes outside of the boundaries of the municipality if a fire or other emergency involving the chemicals, materials, or wastes would be
(1) likely to adversely affect persons or property in the municipality; or
(2) responded to by emergency response personnel whose service area includes all or a part of the municipality.
Sec. 29.35.510. Inspections; penalties.
A municipality may conduct inspections, and establish and impose penalties, necessary to ensure compliance with reporting requirements adopted under
AS 29.35.500.
Sec. 29.35.520. Fees.
A municipality may impose appropriate fees to fully or partially compensate for the cost of processing reports and administering inspections under
AS 29.35.500 — 29.35.510.
Sec. 29.35.530. Duties of municipalities; powers of other agencies.
(a) The municipality, at the request of a business or government agency required to submit an inventory under
AS 29.35.500, shall provide
(1) a descriptive summary of the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes that are required to be included in an inventory; and
(2) inventory forms approved by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission.
(b) [Repealed, § 15 ch 71 SLA 1997.]
(c) The division of fire prevention, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Health and Social Services, or the Department of Labor and Workforce Development may
(1) request copies of inventories submitted under
AS 29.35.500; and
(2) provide educational materials related to hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes.
Sec. 29.35.540. Public access to information.
Information obtained by a municipality under
AS 29.35.500, 29.35.510, and 29.35.530 shall be made readily available to the public for inspection and copying.
Sec. 29.35.550. Application.
AS 29.35.500 — 29.35.590 apply to home rule and general law municipalities.
Sec. 29.35.560. Municipal liability.
The establishment by a municipality of a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes does not increase the liability that may otherwise be imposed on the municipality for damages resulting from hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous waste.
Sec. 29.35.590. Definitions.
In
AS 29.35.500 — 29.35.590,
(1) “acute hazardous waste” means a waste listed by the administrator or the Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with the criteria in 40 C.F.R. 261.11(a)(2);
(2) “extremely hazardous substance” means a substance listed in 40 C.F.R. Part 355, Appendix A and B;
(3) “handles” includes disposes of, generates, processes, stores, treats, transships, and uses hazardous chemicals, materials, or wastes, but does not include the handling of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes while they are in transit and before they reach the final destination indicated on the shipping paper accompanying the shipment, except while they are at a transshipment facility; in this paragraph, “shipping paper” has the meaning given in 49 C.F.R. 171.8;
(4) “hazard class” means the class of a hazardous material defined in 49 C.F.R. 173;
(5) “hazardous chemical” has the meaning given in 29 C.F.R. 1910.1200(c) except that it does not include
(A) a food, food additive, color additive, drug, or cosmetic regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration;
(B) a substance present as a solid in a manufactured item to the extent exposure to the substance does not occur under normal conditions of use;
(C) a substance to the extent it is used for personal, family, or household purposes, or is present in the same form and concentration as a product packaged for distribution and use by the general public;
(D) a substance to the extent it is used in a research laboratory or a hospital or other medical facility under the direct supervision of a technically qualified individual; or
(E) a substance to the extent it is used in routine agricultural operations or is a fertilizer held for sale by a retailer to the ultimate customer;
(6) “hazardous material” means a material or substance, as defined in 49 C.F.R. 171.8, and any other substance determined by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission in regulations to pose a significant health and safety hazard; “hazardous material” does not include food, drugs, alcoholic beverages, cosmetics, tobacco, or tobacco products intended for personal consumption;
(7) “hazardous waste” means
(A) a hazardous waste as defined in
AS 46.03.900;
(B) a hazardous waste as identified by the Environmental Protection Agency under 40 C.F.R. 261; and
(C) any other hazardous waste defined by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission in regulations;
(8) “quantity” means the total amount of a material or waste handled at a time and includes the aggregate of a material or waste that is divided among multiple containers;
(9) “threshold planning quantity” means the quantity listed in the column “threshold planning quantity” for a substance listed in 40 C.F.R. Part 355, Appendix A and B;
(10) “transshipment facility” means a building, dock, yard or other structure or area at which hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes are held, or transferred from one vehicle, vessel, or container to another, for the purpose of reshipment within seven days after arriving at the facility, if regularly holding or transferring within that period of time is the principal business of the facility.
Article 9. Port Authorities.
Sec. 29.35.600. Purpose of authorities.
The purpose of a port authority is to provide for the development of a port or ports for transportation related commerce within the territory of the authority.
Sec. 29.35.605. Establishment of port authorities.
(a) A port authority may be created by one of the following means:
(1) the governing body of a municipality may create by ordinance a port authority as a public corporation of the municipality;
(2) the governing bodies of two or more municipalities may create by parallel ordinances adopted by each of the governing bodies a port authority as a public corporation of the municipalities.
(b) One or more municipalities may join an authority established under (a)(1) or (2) of this section upon the adoption of parallel ordinances by the governing bodies of each affected municipality.
(c) A port authority created under this section is a body corporate and politic and an instrumentality of the municipality or municipalities creating it but having a separate and independent legal existence.
(d) Creation of a port authority under
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730 is an exercise of a municipality's transportation system powers.
(e) The enabling ordinance by which a port authority is established must specify the powers, boundaries, and limitations of the port authority.
(f) An ordinance creating a port authority shall require approval by the voters of the municipality or municipalities participating in the authority in order for the authority to be established.
(g) Nothing in
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.725 prevents a municipality or municipalities from creating or participating in a public corporation, including a port authority, in any form or manner not prohibited by law. However, the provisions of
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.725 only apply to and may only be utilized by a port authority created under this section.
Sec. 29.35.610. Dissolution of a port authority.
(a) The enabling ordinance by which a port authority is created must provide for the manner by which a port authority may be dissolved.
(b) If an authority ceases to exist, its assets shall be distributed to the municipalities that participated in the authority in proportion to the difference between their contributions to the authority and any outstanding debt or obligation of that municipality to the authority, provided that any obligation to bondholders then outstanding shall first be satisfied in full.
Sec. 29.35.615. Municipal property.
(a) A municipality may transfer and otherwise convey or lease real property, and any improvements to it, to an authority for use by the authority for the purposes set out in the ordinance adopted under
AS 29.35.605.
(b) A municipality may transfer and otherwise assign or lease personal property to an authority for use by the authority for the purposes set out in the ordinance adopted under
AS 29.35.605.
Sec. 29.35.620. Powers.
If provided in the enabling ordinance, an authority may
(1) sue and be sued;
(2) have a seal and alter it at pleasure;
(3) acquire an interest in a project as necessary or appropriate to provide financing for the project, whether by purchase, gift, or lease;
(4) lease to others a project acquired by it and upon the terms and conditions the authority may consider advisable, including, without limitation, provisions for purchase or renewal;
(5) sell, by installment sale or otherwise, exchange, donate, convey, or encumber in any manner by mortgage or by creation of another security interest, real or personal property owned by it, or in which it has an interest, including a project, when, in the judgment of the authority, the action is in furtherance of the authority's purposes;
(6) accept gifts, grants, or loans, under the terms and conditions imposed under the gift, grant, or loan, and enter into contracts, conveyances or other transactions with a federal agency or an agency or instrumentality of the state, a municipality, private organization, or other person;
(7) deposit or invest its funds, subject to agreements with bondholders;
(8) purchase or insure loans to finance the costs of projects;
(9) provide for security within the boundaries of the authority;
(10) enter into loan agreements with respect to one or more projects upon the terms and conditions the authority considers advisable;
(11) acquire, manage, and operate projects as the authority considers necessary or appropriate to serve the authority's purposes;
(12) assist private lenders to make loans to finance the costs of projects through loan commitments, short-term financing, or otherwise;
(13) charge fees or other forms of remuneration for the use or possession of projects in accordance with the agreements described in this section, other agreements relating to the projects, covenants, or representations made in bond documents relating to the projects, or regulations of the authority relating to the projects;
(14) exercise the powers of eminent domain and declaration of taking within its physical boundaries under
AS 29.35.030 to acquire land or materials for authority purposes;
(15) regulate land use within the boundaries of the authority;
(16) defend and indemnify a current or former member of the board, employee, or agent of the authority against all costs, expenses, judgments, and liabilities, including attorney fees, incurred by or imposed upon that person in connection with civil or criminal action in which the person is involved as a result of the person's affiliation with the authority if the person acted in good faith on behalf of the authority and within the scope of the person's official duties and powers;
(17) purchase insurance to protect and hold harmless its employees, agents, and board members from an action, claim, or proceeding arising out of the performance, purported performance, or failure to perform in good faith, of duties for, or employment with the authority and to hold them harmless from expenses connected with the defense, settlement, or monetary judgments from that action, claim, or proceeding; the purchase of insurance is subject to the discretion of the board; insurance purchased under this paragraph may not be considered compensation to the insured person; and
(18) protect its assets, services, and employees by purchasing insurance or providing for certain self-insurance retentions; an authority may also maintain casualty, property, business interruption, marine, boiler and machinery, pollution liability, and other insurance in amounts reasonably calculated to cover potential claims against the authority or a municipality for bodily injury, death or disability, and property damage that may arise from or be related to authority operations and activities.
Sec. 29.35.625. Bonds of a port authority; superior court jurisdiction.
(a) If authorized by the enabling ordinance, an authority may borrow money and may issue bonds on which the principal and interest are payable
(1) exclusively from the income and receipts of, or other money derived from, the project financed with the proceeds of the bonds;
(2) exclusively from the income and receipts of, or other money derived from, designated projects or other sources whether or not they are financed, insured, or guaranteed in whole or in part with the proceeds of the bonds; or
(3) from its income and receipts generally or a designated part or parts of them.
(b) All bonds may be sold at public or private sale in the manner, for the price or prices, and at the time or times that the authority may determine.
(c) Before issuing bonds, an authority shall provide for consideration at least sufficient, in the judgment of the authority, to pay the principal and interest on the bonds as they become due and to create and maintain the reserves for the payment that the authority considers necessary or desirable and meet all obligations in connection with the lease or agreement and all costs necessary to service the bonds, unless the lease or agreement provides that the obligations are to be met or costs are to be paid by a party other than the authority.
(d) Bonds shall be authorized by resolution of the authority, be dated, and shall mature as the resolution may provide, except that a bond may not mature more than 40 years from the date of its issue. Bonds shall bear interest at the rate or rates, be in the denominations, be in the form, either coupon or registered, carry the registration privileges, be executed in the manner, be payable in the medium of payment, at the place or places, and be subject to the terms of redemption that the resolution or a subsequent resolution may provide.
(e) All bonds issued under this section, regardless of form or character, are negotiable instruments for all of the purposes of
AS 45.01 —
AS 45.08,
AS 45.12,
AS 45.14, and
AS 45.29 (Uniform Commercial Code).
(f) The superior court has jurisdiction to hear and determine suits, actions, or proceedings relating to an authority, including suits, actions, or proceedings brought to foreclose or otherwise enforce a mortgage, pledge, assignment, or security interest brought by or for the benefit or security of a holder of the authority's bonds or by a trustee for or other representative of the holders.
Sec. 29.35.630. Bonds eligible for investment.
Bonds issued under
AS 29.35.625 are securities in which all public officers and public bodies of the state and its political subdivisions, all insurance companies, trust companies, banks, investment companies, executors, administrators, trustees, and other fiduciaries may properly and legally invest funds, including capital in their control or belonging to them. The bonds may be deposited with a state or municipal officer of an agency or political subdivision of the state for any purpose that the deposit of bonds of the state is authorized by law.
Sec. 29.35.635. Validity of pledge.
The pledge of revenue of an authority to the payment of the principal or interest on bonds or notes of the authority is valid and binding from the time the pledge is made, and the revenue is immediately subject to the lien of the pledge without physical delivery or further act. The lien of a pledge is valid and binding against all parties having claims of any kind against the authority irrespective of whether those parties have notice of the lien of the pledge.
Sec. 29.35.640. Credit of state or a municipality not pledged.
(a) The state and municipalities participating in an authority are not liable for the debts of that authority. Bonds issued under
AS 29.35.625 are payable solely from the revenue of the authority and do not constitute a
(1) debt, liability, or obligation of the state or a municipality; or
(2) pledge of the faith and credit of the state or a municipality.
(b) An authority may not pledge the credit or the taxing power of the state or its municipalities. A bond issued under
AS 29.35.625 must contain on its face a statement that
(1) the authority is not obligated to pay it or the interest on it except from the revenue pledged for it; and
(2) the faith and credit of the taxing power of the state or of a political subdivision of the state is not pledged to the payment of it.
Sec. 29.35.645. Pledges of the state and municipalities.
The state and municipalities participating in the authority pledge to and agree with the holders of bonds issued under
AS 29.35.625 and with the federal agency, if any, that loans or contributes funds in respect to a project of the authority, that the state and the municipalities participating in the authority will not limit or alter the rights and powers vested in the authority by its enabling ordinance or other law so that it is unable to fulfill the terms of a contract made by the authority with those holders or that federal agency, or in any way impair the rights and remedies of those holders or that federal agency until the bonds, together with the interest on them and interest on unpaid installments of interest, and all costs and expenses in connection with an action or proceeding by or on behalf of those holders or that federal agency, are fully met and discharged. An authority is authorized to include this pledge and agreement of the state and the municipalities participating in the authority, insofar as it refers to holders of bonds of the authority, in a contract with those holders, and insofar as it relates to a federal agency, in a contract with that federal agency.
Sec. 29.35.650. Limitation of liability.
A liability incurred by an authority shall be satisfied exclusively from the assets or revenue of the authority. A creditor or other person does not have a right of action against the state or a municipality participating in an authority because of a debt, obligation, or liability of an authority.
Sec. 29.35.655. Limitation on personal liability.
A board member or employee of an authority is not subject to personal liability or accountability because of the execution or issuance of bonds.
Sec. 29.35.660. Fidelity bond.
An authority shall obtain a fidelity bond in an amount determined by the board for board members and each executive officer responsible for accounts and finances of that authority. A fidelity bond must be in effect during the entire tenure in office of the bonded person.
Sec. 29.35.665. No taxing authority.
An authority may not levy an income or other tax.
Sec. 29.35.670. Exemption from taxation.
(a) An authority exercising the powers granted by the enabling ordinance under
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730 is in all respects for the benefit of the people of the municipalities participating in the authority and the people of the state in general, for their well-being and prosperity, and for the improvement of their social and economic condition. The real and personal property of an authority and its assets, income, and receipts are exempt from all taxes and special assessments of the state or a political subdivision of the state.
(b) Bonds issued by the authority under
AS 29.35.625 are issued for an essential public and governmental purpose; therefore, the bonds, interest and income from them, and all fees, charges, funds, revenue, income, and other money pledged or available to pay or secure the payment of the bonds or interest on them are exempt from taxation except for inheritance, transfer, and estate taxes.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of (a) of this section, an authority and the municipalities participating in the authority may enter into agreements under which the authority agrees to pay the participating municipalities' payments in lieu of taxes and special assessments on real and personal property of the authority that is within the taxing jurisdiction of the municipality.
(d) Nothing in this section creates a tax exemption with respect to the interests of a business enterprise or other person, other than the authority, in property, assets, income, or receipts, whether or not financed under
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730.
Sec. 29.35.675. Development plan.
In the enabling ordinance establishing the authority under
AS 29.35.605 the authority shall be
(1) required to submit a development plan to the governing body of the municipality or municipalities participating in the authority; and
(2) prohibited from undertaking the construction or acquisition of a project unless the project appears in a development plan submitted to and approved by the governing body of the municipality or municipalities participating in the authority.
Sec. 29.35.680. Administration of port authorities; board.
(a) An authority shall be governed by a board of directors, which shall exercise the powers of the authority. The enabling ordinance establishing the authority under
AS 29.35.605 must specify the number, qualifications, manner of appointment or election, and terms of members of the board.
(b) The board shall appoint a chief executive officer of the authority who serves at the pleasure of the board. The board shall fix the compensation of the chief executive officer.
Sec. 29.35.685. Continuation of collective bargaining agreements; application of AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260.
(a) A collective bargaining agreement for employees of the state or its political subdivisions who are transferred to an authority under
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730 shall remain in effect for the term of the agreement or for a period of one year, whichever is longer, and shall be binding on the authority unless the parties agree to the contrary before the expiration of the agreement. A labor-management negotiation impasse declared after a transfer of employees under this subsection but before the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement shall be resolved as provided in the collective bargaining agreement, except that if the collective bargaining agreement does not provide for a resolution, then as provided in
AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260.
(b) Employees of the state or a political subdivision of the state transferred to an authority shall retain, for a period of one year following the date of transfer or for the duration of a collective bargaining agreement transferred under (a) of this section, whichever is greater, all rights of participation in fringe benefit programs available to the employees on the day before the transfer, or in programs substantially equivalent.
(c)
AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260 apply to employees of an authority established under
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730 unless all municipalities participating in the authority are exempt under
AS 23.40.255(a).
Sec. 29.35.690. Bylaws and regulations.
(a) A board shall adopt bylaws and appropriate regulations consistent with the enabling ordinance to carry out its functions and purposes.
(b) A board shall adopt bylaws as soon after the establishment of the authority as possible and may from time to time amend those bylaws. The bylaws may contain any provision not in conflict with law for the management of the business of the authority and for the conduct of the affairs of the authority, including
(1) the time, place, and manner of calling, conducting, and giving notice of meetings of the board and committees of the board, if any;
(2) the compensation of directors, if any;
(3) the appointment and authority of committees of the board, if any;
(4) the appointment, duties, compensation, and tenure of officers, directors, chief executive officer, and other employees, if any;
(5) procedures for adopting regulations;
(6) procedures for adopting bylaws;
(7) procedures for making annual reports and financial statements; and
(8) other matters for the conduct of business by the board.
Sec. 29.35.695. Authority subject to public records and open meetings laws.
An authority established under
AS 29.35.605 is subject to
AS 40.25.110 — 40.25.220 and to
AS 44.62.310 — 44.62.319 (Open Meetings Act).
Sec. 29.35.700. Annual report.
Within 90 days following the end of the fiscal year of an authority, the board shall distribute to the mayor and governing body of each municipality participating in the authority a report describing the operations and financial condition of the authority during the preceding fiscal year. The report may include suggestions for legislation relating to the structure, powers, or duties of the authority or operation of facilities of the authority. The report must itemize the cost of providing each category of service offered by the authority and the income generated by each category.
Sec. 29.35.705. Audits.
(a) The board shall have the financial records of an authority audited annually by an independent certified public accountant.
(b) An authority shall make all of its financial records available to an auditor appointed by a municipality participating in the authority for examination.
Sec. 29.35.710. Remedies.
A holder of bonds or notes or coupons attached to the bonds issued by an authority under
AS 29.35.625, and a trustee under a trust agreement or resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds, except as restricted by a trust agreement or resolution, either at law or in equity, may
(1) enforce all rights granted under
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730, the trust agreement or resolution, or another contract executed by the authority; and
(2) compel the performance of all duties of the authority required by
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730 or the trust agreement or resolution.
Sec. 29.35.715. Claims.
For the purpose of judicial and regulatory proceedings by and against an authority, an authority and its board members and employees enjoy the same rights, privileges, and immunities as a municipality and municipal officers.
Sec. 29.35.720. Conflicting laws inapplicable.
If provisions of
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730 conflict with other provisions of this title, the provisions of
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730 prevail.
Sec. 29.35.722. Ownership or operation of certain state facilities prohibited.
The state may not, without the approval of the legislature,
(1) convey or transfer the Alaska marine highway system, the Anchorage or Fairbanks international airports, or any other state asset, except undeveloped state land as provided in
AS 38.05.810 or surplused property, to an authority; or
(2) enter into an agreement with an authority under which the authority would operate the Alaska marine highway system, the Anchorage or Fairbanks international airports, or any other state facility, system, or function that employs one or more employees.
Sec. 29.35.725. Definitions.
In
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730, unless the context otherwise requires,
(1) “authority” means a port authority established under
AS 29.35.605;
(2) “board” means the board of directors of an authority;
(3) “bonds” includes bonds, bond anticipation notes, notes, refunding bonds, or other forms of indebtedness of the authority;
(4) “bylaws” or “bylaws of the authority” means the guidelines adopted by and amended by the board from time to time in accordance with
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730;
(5) “port” means a facility of transportation related commerce located within the state;
(6) “project” means a port, dock, and administrative facilities, including property necessary in connection with the operation of a port;
(7) “project cost” or “cost of a project” means all or any part of the aggregate costs determined by an authority to be necessary to finance the construction or acquisition of a project, including without limitation to the cost of acquiring real property, the cost of constructing buildings and improvements, the cost of financing the project, including, without limitation, interest charges before, during, or after construction or acquisition of the project, costs related to the determination of the feasibility, planning, design, or engineering of the project and, to the extent determined necessary by the authority, administrative expenses, the cost of machinery or equipment to be used in the operation or rehabilitation of a port, and all other costs, charges, fees, and expenses that may be determined by the authority to be necessary to finance the construction or acquisition;
(8) “real property” or “land” means any interest in real property, including tidal and submerged land, and any right appurtenant to the interest, and without limitation, interests less than full title such as easements, uses, leases, and licenses;
(9) “regulation” means a standard of general application or the amendment, supplement, revision, or repeal of a standard adopted by an authority to implement, interpret, or make specific the law enforced or administered by it or to govern its procedure.
Sec. 29.35.730. Short title.
AS 29.35.600 — 29.35.730 may be referred to as the Municipal Port Authority Act.
Article 10. Regional Solid Waste Management Authorities.
Sec. 29.35.800. Purpose of authorities.
The purpose of a regional solid waste management authority is to provide environmentally sound and cost-effective management of solid waste, including storage, collection, transportation, separation, processing, recycling, and disposal, to protect the public health, safety, and welfare; improve the environment of the state; recover resources and energy; and prevent pollution.
Sec. 29.35.805. Establishment of regional solid waste management authorities.
(a) A regional solid waste management authority may be created in one of the following ways:
(1) the governing body of a municipality may, by ordinance, create a regional solid waste management authority as a public corporation of the municipality;
(2) the governing bodies of two or more municipalities may, by substantially identical ordinances adopted by each of the governing bodies, create a regional solid waste management authority as a public corporation of the municipalities.
(b) One or more municipalities may join an authority established under (a)(1) or (2) of this section upon the adoption of substantially identical ordinances by the governing bodies of each affected municipality.
(c) A regional solid waste management authority created under this section is a body corporate and politic and an instrumentality of the municipality or municipalities creating it but has a separate and independent legal existence.
(d) Creation of a regional solid waste management authority under
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 is an exercise of a municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction under
AS 29.35.020.
(e) The enabling ordinance by which a regional solid waste management authority is established must specify the powers, boundaries, and limitations of the regional solid waste management authority.
(f) An ordinance creating a regional solid waste management authority must be approved by the voters of the municipality or municipalities participating in the authority for the authority to be established.
(g) Nothing in
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 prevents a municipality or municipalities from creating or participating in a public corporation, including a regional solid waste management authority, in any form or manner not prohibited by law. However,
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 only apply to and may only be used by a regional solid waste management authority created under this section.
Sec. 29.35.810. Dissolution of a regional solid waste management authority.
(a) The enabling ordinance creating a regional solid waste management authority must provide for the manner by which a regional solid waste management authority may be dissolved.
(b) If an authority ceases to exist, its assets shall be distributed to each municipality that was participating in the authority on the day before the date of dissolution in proportion to the municipality's contribution to the authority less any outstanding debt or obligation of that municipality to the authority. Any obligation to bondholders then outstanding shall first be satisfied in full.
(c) A municipality that is participating in an authority with one or more other municipalities may withdraw from participation without dissolving the authority. The contributions to the authority made by the withdrawing municipality remain the property of the authority, and the municipality remains liable for obligations under any agreement with the authority or other participating municipalities unless the agreement is changed by the contractual parties. A municipality withdraws from participation in an authority by repealing the ordinance adopted under
AS 29.35.805(a)(2) or (b).
Sec. 29.35.815. Municipal property.
(a) A municipality may transfer and otherwise convey or lease real property and improvements to real property to an authority for use by the authority for the purposes set out in the ordinance adopted under
AS 29.35.805.
(b) A municipality may transfer and otherwise assign or lease personal property to an authority for use by the authority for the purposes set out in the ordinance adopted under
AS 29.35.805.
Sec. 29.35.820. Powers and duties.
(a) If provided in the enabling ordinance, an authority may
(1) sue and be sued;
(2) have a seal and alter it;
(3) acquire an interest in a project as necessary or appropriate to provide financing for the project, whether by purchase, gift, or lease;
(4) lease to others a project acquired by the authority on the terms and conditions the authority may consider advisable, including, without limitation, provisions for purchase or renewal;
(5) sell, by installment sale or otherwise, exchange, donate, convey, or encumber in any manner by mortgage or by creation of another security interest, real or personal property owned by it or in which it has an interest, including a project, when, in the judgment of the authority, the action is in furtherance of the authority's purposes;
(6) accept gifts, grants, or loans, under the terms and conditions imposed under the gift, grant, or loan, and enter into contracts, conveyances, or other transactions with a federal agency or an agency or instrumentality of the state, a municipality, a private organization, or another person;
(7) deposit or invest its funds, subject to agreements with bondholders;
(8) purchase or insure loans to finance the costs of projects;
(9) provide for security within the boundaries of the authority;
(10) enter into loan agreements for one or more projects on the terms and conditions the authority considers advisable;
(11) acquire, manage, and operate projects the authority considers necessary or appropriate to serve the authority's purposes;
(12) assist private lenders to make loans to finance the costs of projects through loan commitments, short-term financing, or otherwise;
(13) charge fees or other forms of remuneration for the use or possession of projects under the agreements described in this subsection; other agreements relating to the projects, covenants, or representations made in bond documents relating to the projects; or regulations of the authority relating to the projects;
(14) exercise the powers of eminent domain and declaration of taking within its physical boundaries under
AS 29.35.030 to acquire land or materials for authority purposes; the powers of eminent domain shall be no greater than those enjoyed by the state under
AS 09.55 and shall only be utilized upon prior approval by the governor;
(15) regulate land use within the boundaries of the authority;
(16) defend and indemnify a current or former member of the board, employee, or agent of the authority against all costs, expenses, judgments, and liabilities, including attorney fees, incurred by or imposed on that person in connection with a civil or criminal action in which the person is involved because of the person's affiliation with the authority if the person acted in good faith on behalf of the authority and within the scope of the person's official duties and powers;
(17) purchase insurance to protect and hold harmless its employees, agents, and board members from an action, claim, or proceeding arising out of the performance of, purported performance of, or failure to perform in good faith, duties for the authority or arising out of employment with the authority and to hold them harmless from expenses connected with the defense, settlement, or monetary judgments from that action, claim, or proceeding; the purchase of insurance is subject to the discretion of the board; insurance purchased under this paragraph is not compensation to the insured person; and
(18) protect its assets, services, and employees by purchasing insurance or providing for certain self-insurance retentions.
(b) An authority shall maintain casualty, property, business interruption, marine, boiler and machinery, pollution liability, and other insurance in amounts reasonably calculated to cover potential claims against the authority or a municipality for bodily injury, death or disability, and property damage that arise from or are related to authority operations and activities.
Sec. 29.35.825. Bonds of a regional solid waste management authority; superior court jurisdiction.
(a) If authorized by the enabling ordinance, an authority may borrow money and issue bonds on which the principal and interest are payable
(1) exclusively from the income and receipts of, or other money derived from, the project financed with the proceeds of the bonds;
(2) exclusively from the income and receipts of, or other money derived from, designated projects or other sources, whether they are financed, insured, or guaranteed in whole or in part with the proceeds of the bonds; or
(3) from its income and receipts or a designated part or parts of them.
(b) All bonds shall be sold at public or private sale in the manner, for the price or prices, and at the time or times the authority may determine.
(c) Before issuing bonds, an authority shall provide for consideration at least sufficient, in the judgment of the authority, to
(1) pay the principal of and interest on the bonds as they become due;
(2) create and maintain the reserves for the payment that the authority considers necessary or desirable; and
(3) meet all obligations in connection with the lease or agreement and all costs necessary to service the bonds, unless the lease or agreement provides that the obligations are to be met or costs are to be paid by a party other than the authority.
(d) Bonds shall be authorized by resolution of the authority and shall be dated and mature as the resolution may provide, except that a bond may not mature more than 40 years after the date of its issue. Bonds shall bear interest at the rate or rates, be in the denominations, be in the form, either coupon or registered, carry the registration privileges, be executed in the manner, be payable in the medium of payment, at the place or places, and be subject to the terms of redemption that the resolution or a subsequent resolution may provide.
(e) All bonds issued under this section, regardless of form or character, are negotiable instruments for all the purposes of
AS 45.01 —
AS 45.08,
AS 45.12,
AS 45.14, and
AS 45.29 (Uniform Commercial Code).
(f) The superior court has jurisdiction to hear and determine suits, actions, or proceedings relating to an authority, including suits, actions, or proceedings brought to foreclose or otherwise enforce a mortgage, pledge, assignment, or security interest brought by or for the benefit or security of a holder of the authority's bonds or by a trustee for or other representative of the holders.
Sec. 29.35.830. Bonds eligible for investment.
Bonds issued under
AS 29.35.825 are securities in which public officers and public bodies of the state and its political subdivisions, insurance companies, trust companies, banks, investment companies, executors, administrators, trustees, and other fiduciaries may properly and legally invest funds, including capital in their control or belonging to them. The bonds may be deposited with a state or municipal officer of an agency or political subdivision of the state for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds of the state is authorized by law.
Sec. 29.35.835. Validity of pledge.
The pledge of revenue of an authority to the payment of the principal of or interest on bonds or notes of the authority is valid and binding from the time the pledge is made, and the revenue is immediately subject to the lien of the pledge without physical delivery or further act. The lien of a pledge is valid and binding against all parties having claims of any kind against the authority irrespective of whether those parties have notice of the lien of the pledge.
Sec. 29.35.840. Credit of state or a municipality not pledged.
(a) The state and municipalities participating in an authority are not liable for the debts of that authority. Bonds issued under
AS 29.35.825 are payable solely from the revenue of the authority and do not constitute a
(1) debt, liability, or obligation of the state or a municipality; or
(2) pledge of the faith and credit of the state or a municipality.
(b) An authority may not pledge the credit or the taxing power of the state or its municipalities. A bond issued under
AS 29.35.825 must contain on its face a statement that
(1) the authority is not obligated to pay it or the interest on it except from the revenue pledged for it; and
(2) the faith and credit of the taxing power of the state or of a political subdivision of the state is not pledged to the payment of it.
Sec. 29.35.845. Pledges of the state and municipalities.
The state and municipalities participating in an authority pledge to and agree with the holders of bonds issued under
AS 29.35.825 and with the federal agency, if any, that loans or contributes funds for a project of the authority that the state and the municipalities participating in the authority will not limit or alter the rights and powers vested in the authority by its enabling ordinance or other law so that it is unable to fulfill the terms of a contract made by it with those holders or that federal agency or in any way impair the rights and remedies of those holders or that federal agency until the bonds, together with the interest on them and interest on unpaid installments of interest, and all costs and expenses in connection with an action or proceeding by or on behalf of those holders or that federal agency, are fully met and discharged. An authority may include this pledge and agreement of the state and the municipalities participating in the authority, to the extent that it refers to holders of bonds of the authority, in a contract with those holders, and to the extent that it relates to a federal agency, in a contract with that federal agency.
Sec. 29.35.850. Limitation of liability.
A liability incurred by an authority shall be satisfied exclusively from the assets or revenue of the authority. A creditor or other person does not have a right of action against the state or a municipality participating in an authority because of a debt, obligation, or liability of an authority.
Sec. 29.35.855. Limitation on personal liability.
A board member or employee of an authority is not subject to personal liability or accountability because of the execution or issuance of bonds.
Sec. 29.35.860. Fidelity bond.
An authority shall obtain a fidelity bond in an amount determined by the board for board members and each executive officer responsible for accounts and finances of that authority. A fidelity bond must be in effect during the entire tenure in office of the bonded person.
Sec. 29.35.865. No taxing authority.
An authority may not levy an income or other tax.
Sec. 29.35.870. Exemption from taxation.
(a) An authority exercising the powers granted by the enabling ordinance under
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 is in all respects for the benefit of the people of the municipalities participating in the authority and the people of the state in general, for their well-being and prosperity, and for the improvement of their social and economic condition. The real and personal property of an authority and its assets, income, and receipts are exempt from all taxes and special assessments of the state or a political subdivision of the state.
(b) Bonds issued by the authority under
AS 29.35.825 are issued for an essential public and governmental purpose; therefore, the bonds, the interest and income from them, and all fees, charges, funds, revenue, income, and other money pledged or available to pay or secure the payment of the bonds or interest on them are exempt from taxation except for inheritance, transfer, and estate taxes.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of (a) of this section, an authority and the municipalities participating in the authority may enter into agreements under which the authority agrees to pay the participating municipalities' payments in lieu of taxes and special assessments on real and personal property of the authority that is within the taxing jurisdiction of the municipality.
(d) Nothing in this section creates a tax exemption with respect to the interests of a business enterprise or other person, other than the authority, in property, assets, income, or receipts, whether or not financed under
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925.
Sec. 29.35.875. Administration of regional solid waste management authorities; board.
(a) An authority shall be governed by a board of directors, which shall exercise the powers of the authority. The enabling ordinance establishing the authority under
AS 29.35.805 must specify the number, qualifications, manner of appointment or election, and terms of members of the board.
(b) The board shall appoint a chief executive officer of the authority, who serves at the pleasure of the board. The board shall fix the compensation of the chief executive officer.
Sec. 29.35.880. Continuation of collective bargaining agreements; application of AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260.
(a) A collective bargaining agreement for employees of the state or its political subdivisions who are transferred to an authority under
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 remain in effect for the term of the agreement or one year, whichever is longer, and are binding on the authority unless the parties agree to the contrary before the agreement expires. A labor-management negotiation impasse declared after a transfer of employees under this subsection but before the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement shall be resolved as provided in the collective bargaining agreement or, if the collective bargaining agreement does not provide for a resolution, as provided in
AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260.
(b) Employees of the state or a political subdivision of the state transferred to an authority shall retain, for one year following the date of transfer or for the duration of a collective bargaining agreement transferred under (a) of this section, whichever is greater, all rights of participation in fringe benefit programs available to the employees on the day before the transfer, or in substantially equivalent programs.
(c)
AS 23.40.070 — 23.40.260 apply to employees of an authority established under
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 unless all municipalities participating in the authority are exempt under
AS 23.40.255(a).
Sec. 29.35.885. Bylaws and regulations.
(a) A board shall adopt bylaws and appropriate regulations consistent with the enabling ordinance to carry out its functions and purposes.
(b) A board shall adopt bylaws as soon after the authority is established as possible and may, from time to time, amend those bylaws. The bylaws may contain any provision not in conflict with law for managing the business of the authority and for conducting the affairs of the authority, including provisions relating to
(1) the time, place, and manner of calling, conducting, and giving notice of meetings of the board and committees of the board, if any;
(2) the compensation of directors, if any;
(3) the appointment and authority of committees of the board, if any;
(4) the appointment, duties, compensation, and tenure of officers, directors, the chief executive officer, and other employees, if any;
(5) procedures for adopting regulations;
(6) procedures for adopting bylaws;
(7) procedures for making annual reports and financial statements; and
(8) other matters for the conduct of business by the board.
Sec. 29.35.890. Authority subject to public records and open meetings laws.
An authority established under
AS 29.35.805 is subject to
AS 40.25.110 — 40.25.220 and to
AS 44.62.310 — 44.62.319 (Open Meetings Act).
Sec. 29.35.895. Annual report.
Within 90 days following the end of the fiscal year of an authority, the board shall distribute to the mayor and governing body of each municipality participating in the authority a report describing the operations and financial condition of the authority during the preceding fiscal year. The report may include suggestions for legislation relating to the structure, powers, or duties of the authority or operation of facilities of the authority. The report must itemize the cost of providing each category of service offered by the authority and the income generated by each category.
Sec. 29.35.900. Audits.
(a) The board shall have the financial records of an authority audited annually by an independent certified public accountant.
(b) An authority shall make all of its financial records available to an auditor appointed by a municipality participating in the authority for examination.
Sec. 29.35.905. Remedies.
A holder of bonds or notes or coupons attached to the bonds issued by an authority under
AS 29.35.825, and a trustee under a trust agreement or resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds, except as restricted by a trust agreement or resolution, either at law or in equity, may
(1) enforce all rights granted under
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925, the trust agreement or resolution, or another contract executed by the authority; and
(2) compel the performance of all duties of the authority required by
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 or the trust agreement or resolution.
Sec. 29.35.910. Claims.
In judicial and regulatory proceedings by and against an authority, an authority and its board members and employees enjoy the same rights, privileges, and immunities as a municipality and municipal officers.
Sec. 29.35.915. Conflicting laws inapplicable.
If a provision of
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 conflicts with another provision of this title, the provision of
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 prevails.
Sec. 29.35.920. Definitions.
In
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925, unless the context otherwise requires,
(1) “authority” means a regional solid waste management authority established under
AS 29.35.805;
(2) “board” means the board of directors of an authority;
(3) “bonds” includes bonds, bond anticipation notes, notes, refunding bonds, or other forms of indebtedness of the authority;
(4) “bylaws” means the guidelines adopted by and amended by the board from time to time under
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925;
(5) “costs of projects” means all or any part of the aggregate costs determined by an authority to be necessary to finance the construction or acquisition of a project, including, without limitation, the cost of acquiring real property; the cost of constructing buildings and improvements; the cost of financing the project, including, without limitation, interest charges before, during, or after construction or acquisition of the project; costs related to determining the feasibility of, planning, design of, or engineering of the project and, to the extent determined necessary by the authority, administrative expenses; the costs of machinery or equipment to be used in the operation or rehabilitation of a solid waste management facility or operation; and all other costs, charges, fees, and expenses that the authority determines necessary to finance the construction or acquisition;
(6) “land” or “real property” means any interest in real property, including tidal and submerged land, any right appurtenant to the interest, and, without limitation, interests less than full title, such as easements, uses, leases, and licenses;
(7) “project” means a solid waste management facility, and administrative facilities, including property necessary for solid waste management;
(8) “regulation” means a standard of general application or the amendment, supplement, revision, or repeal of a standard adopted by an authority to implement, interpret, or make specific the law enforced or administered by it or to govern its procedure.
Sec. 29.35.925. Short title.
AS 29.35.800 — 29.35.925 may be cited as the Regional Solid Waste Management Authority Act.