NOTN- The Juneau Assembly spent its Saturday retreat examining an estimated $11 million budget shortfall, Mayor Beth Weldon said it will take one to two years to fully understand as the city assesses the effects of recent voter-approved ballot measures.

“This is just an estimate because it will take us a year or two to figure out exactly what the ramifications of the ballot measures are, good or bad.” Weldon Said.

According to Weldon, about $4.4 million of the projected deficit is considered one-time cost.

The Assembly directed the manager to split reductions between delaying capital projects, including a planned waterfront museum, and pushing back one year of planned street work funded through the 1% temporary sales tax.

The remaining $6.6 million is tied to recurring costs. Weldon noted that additional financial pressures remain, including school district funding questions and outstanding police and fire labor contracts.

“To give people an idea of how big that is, when we did our priority list budgeting, all of our recreational facilities, everything together was $6 million. So we’re looking at some definitely cuts in service.” She said, “And on top of that, we also have to keep in mind that we have to have funding for glacial lake outburst floods and we have to have contracts out there for police and fire.”

To address the recurring shortfall, the city said it will tighten budget assumptions, such as eliminating long-vacant positions and delaying the launch of new programs, increase revenue, primarily through higher dockage fees and begin service reduction.

“We’re looking for community input on this, because this is where the community is going to feel it.” Weldon said.