The total assessed value of privately owned land, residences and commercial property in Wrangell is up about 1% this year, coming in at $260.6 million.

Last year’s total on the more than 2,000 privately held properties was $258.5 million.

That doesn’t mean every home, business and vacant lot saw their assessed value go up 1% this year; each property is assessed separately, and changes will vary each year between properties.

A property’s assessed value is multiplied by the property tax rate set by the assembly each June to determine the owner’s tax bill.

Adding in tax-exempt property, including government, tribal and church property, and senior citizen-owned homes, the total assessed value in Wrangell comes to $452.6 million for 2026, a 2.3% gain from $442.4 million in 2025.

Wrangell leads the state in the percentage of residential property value exempt from taxes for homes owned and occupied by residents 65 and older. State law exempts from property taxes the first $150,000 in assessed value of a senior-owned home.

In Wrangell, that senior exemption removed $44 million in property value from the tax rolls, according to the contract assessor’s report to the borough. Last year, that tax exemption removed $41 million from the taxable property total.

Last year, the senior exemption reduced the taxable property total by about 16%; this year it’s closer to 17%. Those numbers are the highest in the state, according to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development Alaska Taxable annual report.

Nenana, population 350, southwest of Fairbanks, was a distant second last year at 13.6%.

As Wrangell’s population ages, the number who qualify for the tax savings grows. Wrangell was No. 2 in Southeast in median age last year, at 48.5 years old, 2 years older than it was in 2020. Statewide, the median age was 37.1 last year.

The community’s aging population shows up in the spread between children and teens compared to senior citizens. In the state’s July 2025 estimate, Wrangell had 583 residents age 65 and older, versus 417 residents between the ages of newborn and 19 years old.

There are 333 senior-owned residences in town that receive the state-mandated property tax break, worth more than $400,000 a year in reduced taxes.

That’s about one-third of all residential properties in Wrangell, according to numbers provided by the borough Finance Department.

The program is available only for owner-occupied homes, not rentals.

State law has required the exemption since 1972. Though the state used to reimburse cities and boroughs for the lost revenue, the Legislature started phasing out the reimbursement in 1986 and stopped it completely in 1997, much to the frustration of municipalities.

Assessment notices were mailed out to property owners last month; any appeals must be filed at City Hall within 30 days of the notice.

The assembly will set the tax rate in June, as part of its budget work for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Tax payments are due by Oct. 15.

Of the $452.6 million in total property value in the borough, $123.7 million is land and $329 million are buildings and other improvements on the land.

In addition to $44 million of senior-owned homes, other categories on the tax-exempt list include: disabled veterans receive a state-mandated exemption on their homes totaling $1.6 million; borough-owned property is worth $73 million; and state, federal and church property totals about $68 million.

Of taxable property in the borough, the more than 1,100 parcels of vacant land are valued at $24 million, 975 homes are assessed at $185 million, half a dozen mobile home parks are valued at $1.2 million and 150 mobile homes are assessed at a total of almost $2.6 million, according to preliminary numbers from the Finance Department, before the tax rolls are certified.

Seven apartment buildings are worth a total of $1.9 million, 10 condominium units total $1.1 million, and 240 commercial properties are assessed at almost $43 million.