Each individual, tax-paying citizen is responsible for making our community safe -- municipal employees and elected officials are there to assist each citizen in staying safe in our vibrant, growing community. The mayor and Assembly are to provide the employees with the tools they need to do that. They provide the latest equipment, leadership and financial security that provide municipal employees with the ability to help all citizens stay safe. The citizen participates in this process by paying taxes, passing bonds and exercising their right to vote.
AO 37 was presented by the administration to the Assembly in hopes of helping to alleviate the monetary shortfalls that occurred during the previous administrations. It states that increases cannot be given that is greater than the CPI, Consumer Price Index, plus 1 percent. It states that the administration cannot give raises to any municipal employee group for which the municipality does not have the money for its support. AO 37 does not take away collective bargaining; municipal employee unions will still be at the table, and be part of the bargaining process.
Each citizen of Anchorage wants to feel valued and protected. They have elected officials who they feel will help them do this. But, they, the citizens, have put certain constraints on those officials, the Assembly. They have voted on and passed an initiative that caps the amount of taxes each citizen can be assessed. This means the administration and Assembly must decide how to distribute the money allotted in as appropriate a manner as possible. One way the citizenry is able to spend more, over and above the tax cap, is by bonded indebtedness. When general obligation bonds for specific things, such as fire trucks or improvements to the library, are issued, they are over and above the tax cap.
The fire and police unions have stated that if AO 37 is not repealed, the citizens of Anchorage will not be safe. If AO 37 stands, the citizens will be served by the same number of policemen and firemen, the new SUV police cars will still be on the street and parked in front of police officers' homes and the fire stations will still be open, as well as the police and fire training facilities. The IBEW linemen will still be on the job, the new snowplow will be clearing our streets of snow and the municipal employees at City Hall will be reporting to work each day to answer your questions.
One of the changes adopted by AO 37 is management rights. Before AO 37, many management rights were negotiated away. For instance, the union was able to say how many men should be on each fire truck. The fire chief was not able to move his personnel around as needs changed, because that right had been bargained away.
For the police and fire union spokespersons to say the citizens of Anchorage will not be safe if AO 37 is not repealed is a slap in the face to all those public safety officials who go to work every day in hopes of making Anchorage a safe place in which to live and play.
There is only so much money the Assembly is authorized to spend. If wage increases go over that budget, the money has to come from somewhere. The tax cap says they cannot tax the average citizen any more. It might mean that the library does not get the technological upgrades it needs. Or possibly your favorite bike trail will not be maintained. Or the street in front of your house will not be plowed in a timely manner after a heavy snowfall. These are things our city needs to be called "home."
Please allow the administration and Assembly to distribute the tax dollars they are allotted in a fair and equitable manner by voting yes to retain AO 37.
Ernie Hall is an Anchorage Assembly member and former chair of the Assembly.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.