(Sage Smiley / KSTK)
Wrangell has dropped its local property tax rate to $9.75 per $1,000 of assessed value – or 9.75 mills. That’s a 24% decrease from the previous rate, which was in place for over a decade.
Wrangell’s Assembly approved the lower rate at its Tuesday meeting (June 13). Property taxes are estimated to bring in just over $2 million this year, which is $300,000 more than last year. Property taxes make up about 30% of the borough’s revenues. Most of the rest comes from local sales tax.
Property values in Wrangell increased by almost 50% this year, after the local government paid to have nearly every property in town reassessed.
The property tax rate – also called a mill rate – of 9.75 mills is for properties within Wrangell’s “service area,” which is the vast majority of properties in the borough. Under the new rate, a property with an assessed value of $300,000 would pay $2,925 in property taxes inside the service area.
Communities that are off-grid like Meyers Chuck, Olive Cove or Thom’s Place will continue to pay a rate of 4 mills, or $4 per $1,000 of assessed value.
There’s more than $378.8 million-worth of property in the borough. Just under 60% of that property is taxable – $224.7 million. The rest is owned by the local, state or federal governments, Alaska Native organizations, churches, or by seniors or disabled veterans with tax exemptions.
This year’s property taxes will be due at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 13, 2023.
6/15: This article has corrected its example property tax calculation. The previous version had a tax payment calculated with the old mill rate.
Get in touch with KSTK at news@kstk.org or (907) 874-2345.
