NOTN- The Juneau Assembly has indefinitely tabled a proposal that would have required nonprofits to collect sales tax on purchases, after a marathon debate that Mayor Beth Weldon described as increasingly confusing for the public.
Speaking on Monday night’s meeting, Weldon said the measure drew intense public interest, but efforts to carve out protections for smaller nonprofits only muddied the policy.
“We were just creating confusion. Just for instance, what’s intermediate fundraising? How do the raffle tickets fit in there? 14 days isn’t long enough for a raffle ticket period, and so at the end, especially after talking with the finance, Ms. Woll proposed an amendment to table it indefinitely. And what that means is, unless we bring it up at our next meeting, it dies at this time.” Weldon said.
At the meeting, 17 nonprofit leaders testified against the measure, raising concerns about fairness, added financial burdens and more confusion over how the ordinance would work.
“What I have a hard time understanding is the policy rationale for carving out certain types of non-profits as ineligible for the sales tax exemption, though we have an important charitable mission, it sends a message that it’s not important enough. Crafting tax law is tricky. Our Internal Revenue Code is 3000 pages. The regs are another 70,000. I get it. I understand interpretations have to be made and lines drawn, and I also understand-I truly do-the desire to protect basic human services, food, and shelter to those who need it most. But I question whether the city should be in a position of determining where to draw that line and what services and missions are important.” Said Bridget Lujan, Executive Director of Juneau Dance Theater.
The proposal was projected to raise closer to $1–2 million in new revenue, down from earlier estimates of $3 million, according to Weldon. She said the financial benefit no longer justified the level of community angst.
The Assembly also approved funding for Hesco barriers and other work related to glacial outburst flood mitigation.
The meeting stretched until about 9:45 p.m.