HomeMy WebLinkAbout11272017 City Council LaydownsNovember 27, 2017 City Council Citizen's Budget Comments
Carol Griswold
I am concerned about many areas in our 2018-2019 budget, especially the
substantial increase in real and personal property mill rate.
These are some of the unnecessary expenses and subsidies I would like Council to
address:
Capital Improvement Plan p 106
Postpone or reduce Additional Utility sites in Waterfront Park $400K
Reduce Parks and Rec Playground improvements: $725,000
Can these expenses come out of the Parks and Rec budget?
Delete Ranger cabin at Two Lakes Park, Lowell Canyon, or Citizen's Field,
$20,000. A cabin there is not permitted under our code.
Delete Fort Raymond Campground restroom and shower $450,000.
Add ADA-compliant Parking Office to replace illegal trailer.
Delete dredging of the north end of the Lagoon if this is still in the budget. This
would destroy two productive salmon streams and require extensive permitting
for no particular good reason.
I urge Council to end the city's subsidized winter camping. The 2004 experiment
has evolved into a continuing violation of our city camping code that only allows
camping for recreational and vacation purposes.
The original intent to allow winter RV camping from October 1 to April 14 for
recreational and vacation purposes was to support downtown businesses.
Instead, the city has created a de facto trailer park in our Waterfront campground
where people can live in their RVs for extended periods of time. There are usually
between 4 and 6 long-term RVs camped in the winter at incredibly subsidized
fees with free WIFL People who LIVE there do not support our restaurants and
shops like short-term vacationers.
As noted in the 2004 Resolutions: "Winter camping will cost additional resources
in winter maintenance of plowing, sanding and ice removal; additional staff hours
in fee collection, compliance and power switch-on/switch off and minor
maintenance issues... The bottom line analysis is that we are losing money
charging $30 per night."
The 2004 Council then set the winter camping fees at $2
non -electric and $20 electric. Even with the unapproved $5 non -electric fee
currently charged, we've been losing even more money ever since.
I urge City Council to end this subsidized experiment, enforce the camping code,
and shut down winter camping. We can't afford it.
References below, photos attached.
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SSC 15.10.140 Definitions:
B. 18. Campground. A plot of ground upon which two or more campsites are
located, established or maintained for occupancy by tents or recreational vehicles
as temporary living quarters for recreational or vacation purposes.
The January 12, 2004 Resolution 2004-09 set the October 1-April 14 winter RV
camping rates at $2 for non -electric, and $30 for electric.
Winter camping rates had not been changed since 2002.
In this Resolution, the new electricity sites in the Resurrection camping area were
made available for winter RV camping.
As stated, "Winter camping will cost additional resources in winter maintenance
of plowing, sanding and ice removal; additional staff hours in fee collection,
compliance and power switch-on/switch off and minor maintenance issues. We do
not have campground employees available on the weekends, we would need to
hire and train employees."
The March 8, 2004 Resolution 2004-25 decreased the winter RV electric rate to
$20 per night.
"The bottom -line analysis is that we are losing money charging $30 per night. We
cannot safely cut back on staff hours of winter maintenance, and even without
snow. Weather conditions have required a lot of sand and attention. We will
continue to lose money if we charged more money per night, because it's
obviously not cost-effective for campers to use our park at the current rate." (of
$30)
As per these 13 year -old Resolutions, winter RV rates are $2 per night for non-
electric, $20 per night for electric.
I understand WIFI is free and provided in the winter. How much does that cost?
Note: the rates charged for dry sites (non -electric) are posted as $5 on the city
website and Resurrection Campground bulletin board. I could not find anything
supporting this increase though I think it should be even more.
The October 26, 2015 Resolution 2015-092, City General Fund/Setting the Mill
Rate, page 68, included an increase for the campground utility site rates from $30
to $40 and campground dry site rates from $15 to $20 per night.
There was no discussion noted in the Minutes. I don't know if the winter rates
remained the same, as it did not say.
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TRAVEL REPORT
FOR
2017 ACoM & AML
I attended the Alaska Conference of Mayors on November 14th, there was a good cross section
of communities represented. All of the communities had concerns with the State on the budget
and certain bills being introduced.
Some items discussed were:
Community Assistance program- want it restored to the 30 million dollars level
Want the Legislature to have a balanced budget. Be specific on cuts, what programs
would stay which ones would be eliminated.
Had a presentation from Alaska Housing on loans available through them for energy
efficiency. On the surface it didn't look like Seward would be eligible.
Had a presentation on HB199, concerning fish habitat. I have asked the Administration
to look into this bill to see if it affects Seward.
Received a handout on SB 76 changes to Title 4, Title 4 deals with alcohol.
The group was in strong support of keeping the level the communities pay for PERS/
TRS.
The group wants the Legislature to seek new revenues, but did not have any new
suggestions. They did support a school head tax, funds would go to education (k-16). 1 had
questions about since this tax was eliminated in the late 70's. If this is introduced in the
Legislature we need to look at it very carefully.
On November 15th, 1 attended the opening ceremony for the Alaska Municipal League. I was
looking forward to the keynote speaker, Terrence Cole who was to speak on Alaska's Local
Government Journey. Unfortunately he was ill in New York and unable to attend. During
lunch ,we heard from Governor Walker who talked about his trip to China and the results of that
trip which I am sure all of you have heard already. In the afternoon I attend a workshop on
FirstNet. It is an interesting program, with private infrastructure being upgraded by them with
subscriptions being sold to the First Responders for the use of the system. No details yet on
how much it will cost. This is an item I have concerns with because of security, cost,
replacement of electronic devices. On the 16th, I attended the Legislative panel discussion.
Three senators and three representatives fielded questions thank were developed by the
Council of Mayors. No big news out of this panel.
Report to COUNCIL
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November 29, 2017
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Seward Chamber of Commerce, CVB
Cindy Clock
� SMIC Field Trip with PACAB, Council, Thanks again to the terrific Harbor Crew!
� Upgraded to Intuit Quick Books One -Click Pay from invoice
� 2018 Seward Destination Guide N Business Directory, Ads submitted. Will proof on Dec 18 — 20, Printing
scheduled: Dec 26 — 30, January 5 — 10: Guides delivered to Seward
Heat Pump Workshop — 20 attendees came for this Alternative, Sustainable Energy class on Nov 18tnn
Pacific Marine Expo N All Alaska booths were located in the East Hall this year. Concerns about less traffic
were unfounded as the East Hall was consistently the busiest section of the Expo. "Port of Seward" has
reserved space #4215 for next year too.
� In the last 12 months, the top five states (and specific markets) driving our website traffic are:
• Alaska (particularly Anchorage and the Mat -Su Valley)
• Washington (particularly Seattle)
• California (particularly Los Angeles and San Francisco)
• Texas (particularly Dallas)
• Florida (particularly Orlando)
We'll be expanding our reach to potential visitors via social media in the coming weeks. Communications
Manager Jen Leahy is working with local photographers and is reaching out to travel writers. Hopefully you've
all seen that Seward was featured in Main Streets Across America N
What is Main Streets Across America?
Main Streets Across America is a celebration of streets in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia
that reflect strong `main street values', play a central role in the communities in which they are located and
have great stories to tell.
Main Street is more than just an address. It's where people come together to work, play and experience life.
Every great community has a street like this whether it's named Main Street, Park Avenue, Mountain Road or
Ocean Boulevard. Our Fourth Avenue has been selected to represent Alaska on this annual list.
Last summer the Seward Chamber helped host Doug Olander & crew from Sportfishing Magazine when they
came to Seward to fish with Captain Andy Mezirow, Graylight Charters. A fantastic story with incredible kayak
fishing photos resulted. A big thanks to Bixler McClure too for sharing the REI holiday photo shoot story that
he assisted with.
Located on the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska, Seward is home to only around 2,700 people. The
quaint port city —known for its stunning, rugged scenery —provided the perfect photo shoot backdrop and
inspiration for creating non-traditional, unexpected holiday traditions. We wanted to show people a place in
the U.S. that they might not normally think about, show them the wildest, most remote parts of our own
backyard. We wanted to highlight the spirit of a small town," said Quinn, senior art director. "Seward had
something special about it."
The community opened its doors, welcomed the crew, and even offered them ideas for where to go and things
to see. Quinn says [The people of Seward] helped us in any way that they could.
Small Business Saturday N Over 25 local merchants participated, many shoppers, tons of fun! We've
received a lot of very positive feedback from the community, so we're excited to see this event grow.
� New Members N Mountain View Sports, Seward (John Staser) & Gone Again Charters (Jeff & Wendy
Bryden, Moose Pass)
Hotel Seward Open House tomorrow, Wed from 6 — 8 pm
� Tree Lighting, Santa's Arrival and the ASLC Community Holiday Party all happen Thursday, Nov 30th at 5:45
pm! The ever -popular Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair organized by the Kenai Crewsers Rowing Club is out at the
cruise ship terminal this Friday & Saturday.
Chamber Lunches:
Dec 8 - Tim Dillon, KPEDD — Industry Outlook Forum in Soldotna January 10
Jan 12 — Cindy Clock, State of the Chamber
Jan 26 — Steve Fink, Cryptocurrency
Feb 9 — Alaska Chamber, Worker's Comp Reform
� New "Old Fashioned Christmas" flyer O
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To the Seward City Council and Mayor:
We the undersigned petition that the Seward City Council and Mayor work as diligently
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Brenda Ballou
From: Ristine Casagranda
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2017 1:11 AM
To: Brenda Ballou
Subject: PLEASE PASS ONTO COUNCIL
PLEASE EXCUSE ANY TYPOS. I AM AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
Report for AML
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First and foremost, I would like to thank Council, The citizens of Seward and administration for the opportunity
to once again attend AML, Alaska municipal league. Like always, it was well attended with municipal leaders
all the way from Barrow to Ketchikan.
The conference opened up with a speech from Governor Walker. he spoke on the importance of local
government specifically, specificity. He spoke on the importance of not just bringing a concern to legislators
but bringing a concern with a final solution to legislators. Next, Governor Walker shared with us his excitement
of the feds adopting/approving natural gas as a priority and China's role in bringing more jobs to
Alaska. President Shi Came to Alaska this past summer seeking clean energy to bring to China. After
governor"s efforts , Alaska LNG is an important federal infrastructure project. The governor is excited about
the potential lower cost of energy, the jobs and the opportunity for young folks in new careers that this new
project could bring to our state. Governor Walker also included his experience of visiting China with President
Donald Trump and being personally greeted by President shl. During Governor Walker's speech, he also
mentioned attending listening circles throughout villages in the state of Alaska. I found it extremely exciting
and encouraging to know that our governor is personally visiting villages around our state and listening! As
your representative, I aspire to be a good listener. 907-362-2299
While at AML I was able to attend 3 workshops individually and a fourth workshop that was attended by all
attendees.
The first workshop I attended was called, "getting the best deal for your citizens: keys to negotiating with multi
national resource companies". The workshop was put on by three professionals ( the consultant, the borough
attorney and the borough manger of the Northwest Arctic Borough) that assisted in negotiating a severance tax
from the borough to a major resource company that runs red dog mine. Red Dog Mine is a zinc producing
mine. A PILT was in place since the conception of the mine and although the PILT was consistent, it was
missing the increase of revenues. The borough recognized that the mine was producing high amounts of zinc
and there was an abundance of revenues that were not being taxed coming out of the mine so they implemented
a severance tax. The mine sued the borough and said the severance tax was unlawful. municipalities have
maximum self government. At the end of the day, corporations are doing what it takes to bring their
shareholders more money. with research and proper negotiating resources (The borough hired a consultant
specifically for the negotiation) The constituents can win! This workshop was inspiring. Although the
boroughs negotiations were long, ultimately they were successful and it was all attributed to a united front and
strong team. They left us with a quote of unity and vision, "A house divided amongst itself cannot stand" -
Lincoln. The borough was able to recognize what it was that they wanted for their citizens and even when
things got tough and looked like they could lose they remained strong, united and standing in their vision.
The second workshop was attended by all attendees. AML hosted the mat-su opioid task force consisting of six
opioid specialists; a doctor, a chair of the governors advisory board on alcoholism and drug abuse, a 35 year
Alaskan public school teacher, retired and three other gentleman - two of which had been clean for three years
and the other for two years. The mayor of Wasilla was the spokesman. Each gentleman on the panel spoke of
their experience and their wisdom about opioids. It was refreshing, for the very first time in all the opioid
discussions I have attended to witness a doctor take accountability for the issue. Dr. Michael Alter has been
practicing emergency care for the last 27 years. He said that it is time that the medical physicians begin to take
accountability for what is happening. His perception is that The addiction to opioids is rooted from physicians
over prescribing meds. Dr. Alter was excited to share with everyone the breakthrough remedy and opioid
recovery — a gadget placed on the ear that can bring people out of addiction and into recovery without pain or
trauma. The overall message of the panel was to recognize when you are using meds for pain versus using
meds just to use them, The importance of disposing of unused meds, The importance of having emergency
overdose kits on hand, and most importantly the importance of talking to our youth about the danger of
opioids. I was moved several times by the panel and found myself in tears of joy and tears of sorrow several
times throughout their shares. After the workshop was over I waited out in the hall to speak personally with Dr.
Alter. He encouraged our community to host the Matsu Opiod task force. I look forward to making this
connection in our community.
The third workshop I attended was called what's next for Alaska public safety? Due to the extreme state budget
cuts there has been a large cut back in the trooper care needed — throughout the villages and rural areas in our
state. They began the workshop by stating what has not changed: The Sitka academy remains staffed and
funded all the same, the state crime lab has had no decline in services and search and rescue, sex offender
registration and other such programs remain the same. The Public Safety has come up with an action
plan. They encouraged all municipalities to visit their website and find their action plan to see how we as
communities can participate in the states mission of Public Safety. With cut back resources and an increase in
crime the public safety of Alaska encourages everyone to support their law officIals! Currently, of the 380
trooper positions across the state there are 40 vacancies troopers are leaving faster than they are coming. As a
municipality the best way to retain officers is to show appreciation, support them, get to know them on a
personal level.
Finally, the fourth workshop I attended was preparing for the census. They encouraged all of us to reach out to
our municipal leaders and ask if everyone has completed LUCA registration. Luca registration is basically the
mapping of all addresses with in a municipality that links to google maps. The census is going 100% electronic
all across the nation with the exception of the smaller populated villages and they are hopeful for everyone's
cooperation.
Again, I think everybody for the support in my attendance to AML and I look forward to attending more
opportunities to become a better educated councilmember!
Sent from my iPad
To the Mayor of Seward and Seward City Council:
There are many residents in Seward who are struggling to make ends meet.
Many of these residents are seasonal workers, or only receive a fixed income such as
disability. Some, perhaps, are on a small retirement allotment. According to census,
8.4% of Seward residents are below the poverty level, and that does not include the
many who are only barely above that line, all of whom struggle each month to pay their
bills and to have enough left over to put food on the table. All residents are impacted
by high costs, especially during the winter months.
We are aware that due to the storm in 2010 there was a Fuel Cost Adjustment
added to the electric bills. This was due to drop off after a 60 month period ending by
June 2016. Did this Fuel Cost Adjustment drop off as scheduled? Was there another
Fuel Cost Adjustment added following a subsequent storm? In other words, has there
been another storm resulting in another budget shortfall in which another Fuel Cost
Adjustment was needed? If so, when can we expect it to drop off?
According to a 2014 article in Seward City News, a Special Consultant from
Rockport, Maine by the name of Mike Hubbard was hired by the City of Seward to
examine the fairness of the utility rates and cost of service to customers. His
discoveries:
1. Residents were paying about 1% more than actual cost of service
100 large general service customers, including Spring Creek Correctional Center/State
funded top employer, and Alaska Railroad Corporation which hosts large cruises, coal
ships, and shipping barges, were paying 1 % below cost of service.
About 500 small businesses were paying 62% more than actual cost of service.
Meanwhile, the City's two largest industrial service consumers, Icicle Seafoods and the
Alaska SeaLife Center were paying much less at 57% below cost of service. Did the
City Council and the Mayor address any of these issues?
The Christmas holiday season will be here before we know it. Many residents
note that there is quite a hike in the monthly cost of service during this time. We are
told that the season brings an increase in the use of electric for holiday lights, etc., and
that is the reason the statements reflect higher charges, even though in some cases there
may only be a minimal increase of personal usage, if any at all. The new seasonal rates
reduce electricity costs in the winter, and those reductions will be reflected on the
upcoming November bills. In January, the electric rates will increase slightly, in
response to customers who wanted less variation between the seasonal winter and
summer rates. As a result, winter rates will not decrease as much, but summer rates
will not increase as much, as they did in the prior year. Also, there has been a notable
increase in some Summer month charges. There are two primary reasons for this.
One is that the City Council authorized higher summer electric rates in order to provide
lower winter rates to year -around customers. Therefore, electric bills were higher in
the summer but will be lower in the winter. The second primary driver is the fuel costs
charged to the utility from Chugach Electric Association, which reflects the amount
Chugach pays for fuel they need to service Seward's power needs. This fuel cost
includes a combination of natural gas and diesel fuel. The Seward utility passes
through these fuel costs to our customers with no markup, based on consumption
(kilowatt hours of energy used). The more energy that is consumed service area -wide,
the lower the per kilowatt hour fuel cost is on each customer's bill. When overall
consumption declines, fuel costs increase to each customer. That is part of what has
caused the increase in fuel costs to customers (some large customers have either stopped
operations (Aurora Energy coal terminal) or reduced consumption (Vigor shipyard), so
that will cause fuel costs to shift to other customers, based on their consumption. We
have been told by the utility clerk that this increase resulted from increased usage by
tourists, campground electric, etc. Why are any of these scenarios fair and equitable?
Why should residents pay for any electrical usage other than their own?
Questions
1. Did the Fuel Cost Adjustment generated in 2010 drop off as scheduled? Yes. This
adjustment was the result of the avalanche that took down the power lines between
Seward and Anchorage. Because the City was without power, Seward Public Utilities
had to generate power on its own for an extended period, using its own local generators
which consume significant amounts of fuel while generating. The resulting costs of
that event were passed along to customers over 60 months to avoid large increases over
very few months. The amortization of those additional costs was completed in May
2016.
2. Was there another Fuel Cost Adjustment added following a subsequent storm? No
In other words, has there been another storm resulting in another budget shortfall in
which another Fuel Cost Adjustment was needed? No If so, when can we expect it
drop off?
3. Did the City Council and the Mayor address any of these issues regarding the
distribution of electric rates after they were examined in 2014 by Mike Hubbard? The
City Council has made a number of electric tariff changes since 2014. First, small
businesses were given a rate holiday in 2016 and 2017, where they were the only rate
class to avoid any rate increases. Residential customers were placed on seasonal rates
to provide rate relief to year -around residents, offering them lower rates in the winter
when they tend to use more power, and higher rates in the summer when they have the
flexibility to control their power consumption. Icicle Seafoods was put on a five-year
glidepath toward the Large General Service rate, to eliminate the subsidy they receive,
by increasing their rate each year so that in the next five years, they will be paying the
same as other Large General Service customers. The subsidy was previously
implemented to encourage Icicle to expand production and continue to provide
year -around employment and to expand the through -put of product brought into Seward,
to encourage economic activity. By growing the economic pie, the entire community
benefits in the form of more jobs and down -stream spending benefits to other local
business. The Alaska Sealife Center was placed on a ten-year glidepath to the Large
General Service rate, to eliminate the subsidy they receive. However, that facility is
owned by the City of Seward, which will be required to take over the facility should the
Sealife Center be unable to maintain their financial viability in the long-term. The
Sealife Center management suggests that a significant increase in their power costs may
jeopardize their financial viability, which could potentially shift higher power costs from
that business, onto other users, since fuel costs are spread out based on consumption.
4. Why should residents pay for any electrical usage other than their own? (The
electrical usage of tourists, large industrial service consumers such as Icicle Seafoods
and the Alaska SeaLife Center, and other residents in the Christmas season)
5. Does the council usually approve contracts worth over $250,000 (50% of the 4% bed
tax) to go to the Seward Chamber of Commerce? The City Council has passed
resolutions in the past, expressing their desire to use one-half of the bed tax for the
purpose of bringing in more visitors to Seward to support local businesses and increase
jobs (tourism), as well as to promote economic development initiatives. Therefore,
one-half of the bed tax is given to the Seward Chamber of Commerce to provide
marketing for Seward, and to promote Seward's economic development. Changing
this allocation would require an amending resolution from the Seward City Council. Is
it true that the average Alaskan city chamber of commerce contracts are only around
$40,000?
6. How much of the 4% sales tax is going to the city owned hospital? If it is a large
amount such as $500,000, couldn't we use some of those funds to help lower the cost of
utilities? The City's very first sales tax was a 1% sales tax voted on by the voters
solely for the purpose of providing healthcare services in Seward. Since that time, the
sales tax rate has increased to 4% with 1 % continuing to fund healthcare, and 3 %
helping to fund local government services (police, fire, public safety, street maintenance,
snow removal, parks, recreation, library, planning and zoning, building inspection, etc.)
The portion of sales tax that goes toward healthcare is approx. $1 million per year.
These funds are pledged in bond covenants first to pay for debt service associated with
bonds to finance healthcare facilities. Any remaining funds provide upgraded
equipment to the hospital, clinic and long-term care facility (CT scanners, emergency
room equipment, furniture, lab equipment, building repairs and upgrades, etc.), and then
are made available to fund any operational shortfalls. This funding source cannot be
used to lower the cost of utilities as it was voted in by the people for the purpose of
providing for healthcare.
7. Could you explain what Transfer -out worth over $1 million is being transferred to?
Where are Administrative fee, other fees, and depreciation funds worth over $1.7
million going to? The transfers are primarily related to the electric utility's
payments -in -lieu -of -tax to support the general governmental services of the City. If the
utility were owned by a taxable corporation (rather than by the tax-exempt City), that
corporation would be subject to sales taxes and property taxes which would support
general government services. Therefore, the utility is charged these costs as if it were a
privately -owned corporation, in order to alleviate the need for the local government to
raise tax rates to provide the same level of local government services. The
administrative fee is simply a means to reimburse the departments of the General Fund
which provide services on behalf of the electric utility. For example, the finance
department pays the accounts payable and payroll checks for the utility, manages its
accounting and financial reporting, and performs all billing and collections functions for
the utility, and therefore assigns a portion of its costs to the utility. The city manager
and city council serve as the manager of the utility, and its board of directors. A
portion of their costs therefore, are borne by the utility. The concept of administrative
fee is that if the utility were a stand-alone business, it would have all of these costs.
The administrative fees are paid to the General Fund to reimburse it for the services it
provides to the utility. Depreciation "funds" are not cash payments; they are expenses
which recognize the depleted value of assets during the year. Therefore, those
expenses do to "go" anywhere but are reflected as expenses which diminish the value of
assets held.
8. Are council members who have been on the council for a decade or so, and have put
Seward in approximately $47 million dollars in debt seeking re-election? The City's
elections have recently concluded. The bulk of the City's debt is associated with the
long-term care facility, and those bonds are repaid directly from the revenues associated
with the patients in the facility. Harbor bonds are directly paid through moorage fees
and passenger fees of the users of the harbor facilities. The Electric Fund has bonds for
replacement of World War II -era backup generators, and a new building and warehouse
in which to maintain the new generators. These critical infrastructure items provide the
community with a reliable source of generating its own power to reduce dependence on
any other utility for guaranteed power to our town, especially in the winter. All general
obligation bonds of the City are voted on by the people in an election; therefore, when
voting, the public commits the City to the repayment of these bonds. These are not
always decisions made solely by city council members.
9. Is there is a 7% sales charge on electric usage within the city limits? Yes, the City's
portion of sales tax is 4% and the Kenai Peninsula Borough's portion of sales tax is 3%.
This rate is capped on the first $500 for each service, each month.
10. Did the council look at the options to sell the electric utility, or negotiate with
providers for competing rates that might provide a lesser charge for the residents? The
concept of selling the electric utility has been brought before the public in the past and
voters did not approve the sale. The City does negotiate its power contract and will do
so again in the future. The rates charged to the City by Chugach Electric Association
(the entity which the City purchases its power from), are regulated by the Regulatory
Commission of Alaska, and therefore must be a reasonable reflection of the costs of
providing power to Seward. As a co-op, Chugach does not earn a profit, but instead
returns any "profits" to the participating entities through annual dividend rebates to our
utility. Those are used to offset the costs of power. The administration is proposing
to expand the utility's participation in hydro power by supporting the utility's
participation in the upcoming Battle Creek project, where purchased power is expected
to cost at least 30% less than existing alternatives, although it will meet a small portion
of the utility's power needs. These are the types of things we pursue in order to keep
costs as low as possible.
11. What are the long term plans for monies to pay for the clinic. Will there be
continuing grants to keep it in operation? Seward's clinic is a federally qualified health
center model which was put in place a few years ago in order to reduce the burden on
local taxpayers for the cost of uncompensated care for individuals who were uninsured
or underinsured. Many of those individuals had no choice but to use the emergency
room for health care, since they could not afford to go to a clinic, but could not — by law
- be turned away from the emergency room if they had an emergency health need. The
solution was to steer these patients toward lower -cost health services at a clinic, where
they could receive preventative care and manage healthcare needs before they became
urgent. The federal funding for this program exceeds $1.2 million per year for the
clinic. These federal grant funds allow Seward's clinic to serve all patients regardless
of their ability to pay. Patients who make less than 200% of the federal poverty
guidelines are eligible for a sliding fee discount on clinic charges, and the federal funds
cover these discounts. This results in individuals receiving care at the most affordable
location (clinic) rather than waiting until they are so sick that they require the most
expensive care (emergency room). The City of Seward is a co -applicant with the
non-profit clinic operator, but the City is the recipient of the grant funds. These funds,
along with patient revenues, provide the bulk of funding to operate the clinic. In the
first year the clinic was opened the City provided funding to help the clinic begin
operations, and each year, the clinic has required less funding from the City, with the
ultimate expectation that they will be fully self-sustaining. At that point, the clinic will
have improved the financial impact to the City by nearly $1 million per year, which was
the amount of losses previously covered by the local taxpayers, and essentially now paid
for by the federal grant program. These grants require federal funding and are
therefore not guaranteed. However, the funding program for this grant programs has
historically enjoyed large-scale bipartisan support in Washington DC because
community health centers have been proven to be the most cost-effective mechanism for
providing primary care, in the US.
12. Does the new library cost the city yearly? If so how much? Does the library pay
utilities? The voters approved bonds to construct the new library, with the majority of
the facility paid by State grants. The remaining balance on the bonds is approx. $3
million with annual payments of $246,800, and these bonds will be repaid through
property taxes. All City facilities, including the library, pay for utilities.
13. How much is the city paying for gas and insurance on the city vehicle pool? The
City paid $65,000 in 2016 for fuel which included all heavy equipment (road graders,
dump trucks, plows) and trucks/passenger vehicles, police cars, etc. needed to provide
City services. Insurance (comprehensive and collision, and general liability) insurance
cost approx. $48,000 for all City vehicles and equipment.
14. Who owns the SeaLfe Center and does the city provide any on -going funding?
The Sealife Center is owned by the City of Seward, managed by the Seward Association
for the Advancement of Marine Science. The City does not provide any funding to the
Sealife Center, but does provide subsidized electric rates. It would be interesting to
know if anyone on the council has considered that Seward might file for bankruptcy to
wipe away its large debts. The State of Alaska does not have a provision for local
governments to file bankruptcy. In any case, the debts of the City of Seward were
legally authorized by the voters of the community and the elected body (Seward City
Council). When voters approve general obligation bonds, they do so with the
knowledge and agreement that the City covenants to repay these debts and if necessary,
tax rates will be increased to cover these debt obligations. Courts would require the
City to raise tax rates to cover debt payments, so defaulting on these debts is not a
legally viable option.
Detroit, Michigan filed for bankruptcy on their extremely large debt of 18-20 billion
dollars in 2013. Jefferson County, Alabama filed for bankruptcy in 2011 to the amount
of 4 billion dollars.
There is also the idea of outsourcing/privatizing city government. In this way an
outside source/company would take over the reins of city government. The City does
outsource many of its service needs through contracted services for things such as
engineering, some snow plowing, janitorial services, maintenance, construction,
equipment rent, etc. While companies do not take over the operation of city
government services, they are partners in accomplishing many tasks when they can
accomplish those tasks more cost effectively than the City.
Please note that the residents of Seward and the outlying areas of Seward who get
electric supplied through Seward Electric Utility would all like to pay less for their
electric, not more. There was talk that the council brought up the idea of a 2% increase
to the electric bills in January 2018. Is this true? If so, did the council then, or since,
approve or disapprove by vote? The City Council has approved the rates for 2018 which
include an increase of 2.1% to the City's energy charge, which will be offset, in part, by
a decrease in the Chugach Electric energy charge of 2.0%.