Wrangell is on a financial winning streak these days. It has received multiple state and federal grants to pay for construction, repairs, rebuilds and improvements. But that does not help pay the operating costs of public services and local support for the schools.
It’s a distinction people need to keep in mind. Money in one pocket does not automatically transfer to another pocket.
The borough has received notice of a $25 million federal grant to rebuild most of the downtown harbors floats. It will receive $6.5 million from the state to go toward repairing the worst of age-related problems at the school buildings. The state will send the borough $5 million toward rebuilding the decades-old earthen dams that hold back the community’s water reservoirs.
An additional $200,000 state grant will pay for the borough to start planning an emergency access route from the southern end of Zimovia Highway, and $695,000 in federal aid administered by the state will help pay for a new roof at the Stikine Middle School.
Most of the money for the $23 million water treatment plant under construction — close to $16 million — came from state and federal grants, including a $2.5 million federal grant appropriated by Congress earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the borough is hoping to add to its haul with requests for federal grants to repair the rot-damaged Public Safety Building and improve its sewage treatment operations to meet higher standards for clean water.
As much as people may complain about state and federal spending, Wrangell depends on that largesse to pay for necessary projects it could not afford on its own.
But all that money does not necessarily help the borough’s operating budget which pays for police services, Parks and Recreation programs, the Nolan Center, street maintenance, the local contribution to the school district and more.
The main sources of revenue to pay for those programs are sales taxes and property taxes, neither of which elected officials nor the public want to increase. Yet with a shrinking population and a weak economy, sales tax receipts are starting to show the strain. And the lack of new private construction means the property tax base, while stable, is not gaining.
A sad example of the borough’s budget squeeze is school funding. The Legislature and governor agreed to a substantial one-year boost in state money for K-12 education for the 2024-2025 school year, acknowledging that the funding level hasn’t budged in more than seven years and schools were falling behind. But the Wrangell district will see none of the benefit of that money. The assembly deducted the extra state support from the borough’s contribution to schools, retaining the funds for road repairs.
The budget answers will require hard decisions on taxes and the level of services a small town can afford. So while Wrangell can celebrate all the grants for construction work, it cannot forget that if the town wants good schools and good roads, it will have to pay for both.
- Wrangell Sentinel
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