Mayor Bronson’s 2024 budget proposal holds most spending flat across city departments

Updated: October 4, 2023 Published: October 4, 2023

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson participates in an interview in his office at City Hall in July. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson this week introduced his 2024 draft budget, totaling $597,927,286 in spending, which comes to $2.4 million less than the city spent in 2023.

The document from the administration submitted Monday is an opening salvo in each year’s budgeting process with the 12-member Assembly before a final plan is approved in November after extensive revisions and public input.

“During the development of this budget, the safety of Anchorage residents was kept top of mind while focusing on cost efficiencies,” Bronson said.

The administration emphasized that it is keeping spending almost totally flat for the fire and police departments, neither of which is seeing significant increases or cuts to its overall budgets.

Public safety is the most expensive city-provided service, with the police and fire departments accounting for $133 million and $107 million, respectively, and consuming 40.2% of the proposed budget.

According to the budget document, vacant positions account for $2.6 million in savings on labor costs in the municipality.

“We were certainly faced with a fiscal challenge through this budget process, but my budget proposal is proof that the government always has room to improve on its spending,” Bronson said.

In its current form, the proposed budget falls $12 million below the city’s tax cap.

Following last year’s back-to-back-to-back winter weather events, the administration is adding $1.5 million to the city’s street maintenance section to handle snow plowing and hauling.

Assembly Chair Christopher Constant called the administration’s proposal “a starting point.”

He said that given inflationary pressure eroding the value of municipal dollars, the mayor’s plan amounts effectively to a spending reduction, while expecting the same levels of service.

“It’s a fantasy budget,” Constant said. “The reality is it’s a major, major cut across a number of departments.”

The Assembly will begin working on its version of the budget later in October.

Zachariah Hughes

Zachariah Hughes covers Anchorage government, the military, dog mushing, subsistence issues and general assignments for the Anchorage Daily News. Prior to joining the ADN, he worked in Alaska’s public radio network, and got his start in journalism at KNOM in Nome.