Anchorage to Wait on Sales Tax Proposal
- Jan 6, 2016 | Gail Cole
Alaska is one of five states without a general state sales tax. However, state law permits sales tax at the county and municipal level, and many Alaska localities have embraced local sales tax. Historically, the people of Anchorage have not.
Anchorage Assembly member Bill Evans is working on a proposal for an Anchorage sales tax; he was expected to unveil it some time this month but recently said the moment isn’t right. Local sales tax proposals were soundly rejected in 2006 and 2001, so his caution is understandable. He is now shooting to get a sales tax proposal on the April 2017 ballot.
A reporter from Alaska Dispatch News spoke with Evans, who explained his reason for waiting: “The first quarter of the year, we’re going to be so overrun with what the state is doing as far as taxes and things like that … it would get lost in the noise.” 60% of voters must approve a sales tax in order to implement one.
Meanwhile, the Anchorage Assembly will consider Ordinance No. AO 2015-143, a proposal to adopt a retail marijuana sales tax.
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