Anchorage Economic Development Corporation supports sales tax for property tax relief and community investment

Anchorage Economic Development Corporation leadership is proposing creating a new 3% city sales tax, with two-thirds of it going toward property tax relief and one-third toward public works projects.

“In particular, revenue diversification, property tax relief that increases housing affordability, and quality of life in Anchorage,” AEDC Board Chair Ryan Strong said Wednesday at the nonprofit’s annual forecast luncheon. It’s for a community investment project that improves the community.”

Strong, who is also an executive with the First National Bank of Alaska, spoke while the approximately 1,500 attendees ate lunch. He said a sales tax could bring big changes to Anchorage, and that the concept is modeled after Oklahoma City’s MAPS initiative, specifically the 1% sales tax created in 1993 for public utilities. Stated. Strong said local voters update their ballots every time they appear on them.

“This has funded projects such as a 70-acre downtown park, an NBA basketball arena, a sidewalk program connecting neighborhoods and city facilities, and multiple senior health and wellness centers,” he said. . “More than just making cities better places to live, MAPS sparked three decades of population growth and economic growth that continues to this day.”

AEDC Executive Director Jenna Wright said in an interview that business leaders and partner organizations came together at a conference this summer to flesh out the sales tax concept.

“If we set the sales tax at 3% and spend two-thirds of it on property tax relief, that would reduce property taxes by about 20% for both homeowners and commercial property owners,” Wright said. ” he said. “And Oklahoma City reflects that 1% that has made great success in community investment projects.”

Wright said AEDC is just beginning to spread the idea more widely. There is still much work to be done, she said.

“We’re going to talk to more groups about it and see if there’s an appetite for it in Anchorage and if that’s what Anchorage residents want, but we’re here. I truly believe that we should invest in ourselves in Anchorage,” Wright said.

The sales tax push grew out of the efforts of AEDC’s Choose Anchorage campaign, announced last year. The campaign aims to revitalize the Anchorage economy, with a particular focus on attracting and retaining a workforce during what some experts are calling a national “talent crisis.”