Wrangell Borough Assembly will discuss several budget items at its meeting Tuesday night. That includes how much the borough should give to the local school district. The assembly will consider approving the local contribution of $1.3 million for the next fiscal year. That’s $450,000 less than the school district requested.
The borough would pay the schools through the Wrangell Public School District Local Contribution Fund. Twenty percent of sales taxes makes up the fund. The other funds are through the Secure Rural Schools Fund, which is funding through the U.S. Forest Service. The City and Borough assume that the schools will receive $440 thousand from the State of Alaska after a one-time Base Student Allocation (BSA) increase. The BSA would be a one-time increase of $680 per student. Governor Mike Dunleavy has previously vetoed the education bill this year. If the funding does not come through, the Borough will consider alternatives to give the schools more money, like a property tax proposition to voters, supplemental funding or consolidating resources.
Water treatment plant and airport
In other new business, the Borough Assembly members are scheduled to amend a grant agreement with the U. S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration – otherwise known as EDA. The borough wants more money – $2.1 million more – to make improvements, repairs and renovations at the water treatment plant. In 2019, the EDA granted Wrangell $2.9 million dollars, but with inflation, the Borough requested additional funding. The EDA granted a nine-month extension for the projects to be completed.
Additionally, the Assembly will discuss transferring $13 thousand to help improve airport lighting. The funds would be transferred from the general fund reserves to the general fund CIP.
Currently, the Wrangell Airport is unable to power its runway lights during a power outage. This prevents aircraft from landing overnight during an outage, which includes emergency Medivac flights.
The Wrangell Borough Assembly will hold its regular meeting on May 14 at 7 p.m. in the Borough Assembly Chambers at Wrangell City Hall.
You can listen to the live broadcast of the Wrangell Borough Assembly meeting on KSTK-FM 101.7, or stream online at KSTK.org.
