The Alaska Supreme Court on Wednesday granted a stay in a Ketchikan education lawsuit, ensuring that municipalities will continue to contribute funds toward public education during the appeals process.
Last year, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and four residents sued the state over the required local contribution, a vital piece of Alaska's school funding formula under which organized boroughs and first-class cities pay a set limit of property taxes to local school districts.
Ketchikan Superior Court Judge William Carey issued an order a year later invalidating the required local contribution. He said it violated Alaska's Constitution, which bans the state from implementing dedicated taxes. Carey also ruled that the borough was not entitled to a refund on the money it had paid in the past.
Both parties appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court. The state requested a stay on the local contribution decision from the Superior Court. Less than two weeks ago, Carey denied the stay. The Supreme Court's order will pause Carey's decision pending appeal.
Carey's decision could have uprooted the state's long-held funding formula as early as this year and put the state on the hook for more than $200 million in school funding.