2026 Budget Work Session: Anchorage General Government Operating & Capital Budgets - October 10, 2025
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2026 Budget Work Session: Anchorage General Government Operating & Capital Budgets - October 10, 2025
On October 10, 2025, the Anchorage Assembly held a work session from 11:08 AM to 4:00 PM to review the proposed 2026 General Government Operating and Capital Improvement Budgets (Ordinance 2025-107). The meeting focused on the administration's flat budget proposal, a reorganization of community development and public works departments, and a reduced capital bond package. Key themes included the municipality's reliance on property taxes, a diminished state revenue stream, and the need to address a projected budget shortfall with one-time funds. The session also included discussions on the alcohol tax budget, the ACE fund, and the CASA program.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were noted in the transcript.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public testimony was taken during this work session.
Discussion Items
- Budget Overview and Revenue Challenges: Mayor LaFrance and OMB Director Brough presented the 2026 proposed operating budget of $656.9 million in total appropriation ($666.17 million total operating budget). The budget is $175,000 under the state tax cap and includes a $7.4 million property tax increase over 2025, resulting in a $4 decrease in the tax rate per $100,000 of assessed value. The mayor emphasized that the budget relies heavily on one-time funds from the ML&P sale fund ($5.5 million) to close a shortfall and that the municipality has lost approximately $1 billion in state funding over the last decade. Assembly member Brawley noted the budget increase (1.3-1.4%) is below the inflation rate of 2.8%.
- Reorganization of Community Development and Public Works: The administration presented AO 2025-11, which restructures reporting lines. The public works team (including Maintenance & Operations, Project Management & Engineering, and Traffic Engineering) will now report directly to the Municipal Manager, while community development (Development Services, Planning, Real Estate) will report to a new Community Development Director, Lance Wilbur. The mayor stated this is for efficiency and to align with housing priorities. Assembly members debated the potential siloing of transportation and land-use planning. Chair [name] suggested adding language to the ordinance to explicitly require cross-departmental coordination.
- Capital Budget and Bond Package: The proposed 2026 capital budget totals $48.9 million in bonds—significantly smaller than previous years. OMB noted the removal of a state funding column, as no state capital funds are expected. The bond prioritizes annual maintenance programs (e.g., signals, lighting, flood/glaciation work) over new community road or drainage projects, leaving district-specific priorities to be added by the Assembly. PM&E staff are largely funded through capital projects, meaning fewer bonds could reduce staffing.
- Alcohol Tax and Safe Anchorage Programs: Presentations were given on the alcohol tax budget and the Safe Anchorage program, with directors from the Health, Police, Fire, and Parks departments available for questions.
- CASA Program Discussion: Chair [name] reported that a working group is progressing on the CASA (Community Area Service Area) program. A proposal was floated to fund a professional planning effort via a small levy (rather than bonds) to create a strategic asset plan, moving beyond the current “noisiest projects” approach. The administration agreed to consider the idea.
Key Outcomes
- No votes were taken; the work session was informational. The next work session is scheduled for October 24, 2025, to cover utilities, enterprises, and a deeper capital budget review.
- The Assembly is expected to consider amendments to both the operating and capital budgets, including potential additions to the bond package and clarifying language in the reorganization ordinance.
- A broader fiscal conversation on the municipality's revenue structure is planned for the coming months, with departments preparing scenarios for potential cuts.
- The administration noted ongoing labor negotiations with AMEA, meaning wage increases for non-represented staff (including the assembly) are not yet budgeted and will need to be addressed in the first quarter of 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Everybody, welcome. I'm now going to call to order this work session on the um general government operating and capital budgets. We um be today is the end of October. We're on the record today from eleven to four. It's now eleven oh eight. And we're going to hear today about twenty twenty-five dash one hundred seven, an ordinance adopting the twenty twenty-six general government capital improvement budget. So we'll start with introductions, Mr. President. Christopher Carson on the phone, Mr. Martinez. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Walling. Do you there? Mr. Wallon budget. Okay. Um busy at this point. We're also joined by the mayor and the administration, uh, the OMG director on the browser, Mr. Bill Falls. He will be here soon, I'm sure. Uh, municipal manager Went Pearson, some other folks in the audience. So today we are chair. Okay, Mr. Bollinger's. Let's stop for a second. Thank you. Um, we will be hearing about the general government operating capital budgets with some discussion about the reorg. Uh, Ms. Ball, you want to start us off? Yeah, thank you. Um, so in my role uh with Mr. Boland as um co-chairs of the budget and finance committee. Um, I just want to provide a little bit of information for members, and then I will um say a couple things at the end. Um, really, this is the administration's opportunity to present to us um our budget. So um a lot of us, this is the first um opportunity we'll have, and the public will have to really deep dive into this. Um, I will also say um that sorry, I blank for a little bit. Um, yeah, we'll cover part of it today. We'll cover the other part of it in two weeks. And then there is a third work session that is our work session, the assembly's work session on uh potential amendments. And so, as you're as you're working through, just keep in mind um questions you have, things that you may want to dig into. And then I'll also say um there are a lot of departments, there's a lot of content here, and so I imagine there's going to be a lot of questions that uh may go way in the weeds. So I would ask members to consider um if there are really detailed questions to flag them here, but maybe there's follow-up offline just to keep us moving because I know it's always a challenge to get through all of this content. So I think with that, I would just turn to the admin. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and hello everyone. Turn on the mic. Interesting. You think after all these years, I would know that the green button means on. Okay.
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