Dear Editor: I thank the Sitka Assembly for passing ordinance 26-27 setting a special election regarding childcare funding, asking voters to decide if this solution works for Sitka.
The question before the voters is whether to raise the seasonal sales tax by one half percent during summer.
Revenue generated will be used to stabilize Sitka’s childcare system. This includes operating grants to childcare providers to maintain and expand spots, incentives to recruit and retain staff, a scholarship fund, and a career pathway to ensure a future workforce.
The funds will be administered by a qualified contractor selected through an RFP process. Effectiveness will be measured yearly.
Metrics include staff hiring and retention, spots created, families served, scholarship amounts, and numbers of students in the career pathway. The Assembly and electorate will be able to use this data to evaluate the ordinance, which sunsets in 10 years.
This ordinance came after a long public and municipal process. In 2018, families identified childcare as their largest concern in a school district survey. In 2002, Sitka Tribe released a childcare needs assessment confirming that conclusion. Sitkans chose affordable childcare as the priority at the Health Summit later that year. Municipal strategic planning surveys continued to highlight childcare as a top concern. The Health Needs and Human Services commission produced a report outlining Sitka’s childcare needs and solutions. The 2025 Southeast Business Survey identified affordable childcare as a barrier to attracting and retaining employees.
Public discussions included surveys, parent cafes, a Chamber speakers series, two childcare summits, business surveys, the Health Summit, a public meeting with Senator Sullivan’s staff, commission presentations, childcare listening sessions, and Assembly meetings and work sessions. Sitka’s media sources have diligently covered childcare events, consistently reporting to the public.
Please learn more about the childcare landscape in Sitka and this proposition before voting in the February 2 special election.
Kari Sagel, Sitka
