By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
How will the recent ruling in the cruise ship industry lawsuit against Juneau affect how Sitka spends its commercial passenger excise tax proceeds?
That’s one of the items up for discussion at tonight’s regular Assembly meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. in Centennial Hall. The Assembly also has a work session on city financials starting at 5 p.m.
A copy of the ruling is in the Assembly packet, in which the judge declared that funds may not be spent on services for passengers, “if those services do not also benefit the vessel.”
Juneau bases its per-passenger cruise ship fees on its own local ordinance. Sitka receives its revenues from a statewide tax shared by port communities that do not have a tax of their own.
Sitka’s proceeds generally have been spent on items to improve access, transportation and safety of passengers, including the sea walk and crosswalks at Centennial Hall and to Sitka National Historical Park. The ruling is causing city staff to reconsider Sitka’s plans for spending the funds.
Also on tonight’s agenda is a discussion and possible direction on waiving late fees levied on utility bills for federal workers affected by the partial government shutdown.
Assembly members Kevin Mosher and Aaron Bean, who made the proposal, wrote a memo to the Assembly and city staff arguing that the Assembly should consider the move.
“This is a highly unusual circumstance,” they said. “Many times in the past, when there has been a government shutdown, federal employees received back pay for the period of the shutdown. We feel that the Assembly should give consideration to waiving the city utility 1 percent late payment penalty fee for the period covered during the shutdown.”
Also on the agenda are liquor license renewals, board and commission appointments, and appropriations ordinances for increased staffing and security monitoring at Centennial Hall and the utility subsidization program.
The Assembly also will consider rescinding appointments they made to the Sitka Community Hospital board at the last meeting. Due to an administrative error, the positions were not advertised correctly, the city clerk said.
The vote to rescind needs five affirmative votes. If the appointments are rescinded, the positions will be readvertised and placed on the agenda for the Feb. 12 meeting.
Also on the agenda tonight is a proposal from Police Chief Jeff Ankerfelt on recruiting and retaining police officers.
The number of officers the department has been authorized to hire has been reduced over the years to 16, but presently the department has only 12 “with only 10 capable of performing the duties of a police officer,” Ankerfelt said in his memo to the Assembly. A total of 16 or 17 is needed to cover the shifts, he said.
“The department’s history of chronic understaffing, poor working conditions, disconnected leadership and the stressful nature of police work has led to burnout, fatigue related errors, illness, excessive overtime costs and prohibitively expensive employee turnover,” he said. The city is facing a “public safety crisis” and needs to take action, Ankerfelt said.
He proposes raising the base wage of officers by $5 per hour, compressing the wage scale from 15 to 5 steps, and taking turnover into account when hiring officers. Ankerfelt recommended hiring up to 19 officers, and cutting back when the city has a consistent staffing level of 16.
“The benefits of this practice are measurable,” he said. “They include ... reduced overtime costs, reduced burnout and turnover, improved service delivery and improved morale.”
