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Douglas Fire Station, Arts Funding survive as Juneau Assembly tightens budget ahead of final passage

Juneau’s Assembly Finance Committee is staring down a major budget deficit for fiscal year 2027.

They inched their way through a long night of budget cutting at a work session last night, trimming around the edges while sparing some of the city’s most debated programs.

Finance Director Angie Flick warned the city cannot afford to end the year in the red.

“You should be projected to be at zero at worst case scenario,”
Flick told the committee, “I think my predecessor and the prior city manager had some conversations with the assembly at the time and suggested $5 or $7 million as a fund balance, and that was based on the spending and the projects that the assembly liked to do. When I went back and looked over the last three years, I would, if I were making a recommendation based on your past to predict your future, I would say you would want $11 to $12 million in your fund balance. There were some significant general fund dollars that went to support the school district when it was in need, there’s been significant one-time dollars that have gone to flood fighting, and then there have been other community priorities that the body has decided to fund, and so you know, based on how the body has approached spending in the past, that would be the kind of fund balance that I would suggest. I think the real pressing concern that’s going to be hard to get around, would be flood fighting as we move forward, and that’s just going to be a tricky one to deal with.”

The current draft budget uses about $8 million in fund balance to cover operating costs, leaving Juneau projected at negative $1.7 million in unrestricted fund balance. Even if a package of fast‑tracked sales tax changes passes, that only improves the outlook modestly.

Members were split over strategy.

Some pushed for deeper cuts now and said they were aiming to leave roughly $5 million in fund balance. Others favored relying more on one‑time project cuts until they know whether new revenue measures or fall ballot initiatives will pass.

In terms of action taken, prior to the June 8 public hearing, members voted 5-4 to cut $75,000 a year from the city’s landscape budget.

Assembly member Neil Steininger was one of those who objected to the cuts saying, “I feel like when we just call this the landscaping budget, it’s kind of a misnomer, because so many other things fit in there. This is a parks maintenance budget, it’s not the flowers downtown, it is not beautification landscape, it is safety considerations, it is cleanliness, it is all of those things. I don’t think when people hear landscape budget they think about trail maintenance. I think it’s an important thing that we spend money on to keep Juneau safe.”

Supporters, said the cut will make residents more aware of what those services cost.

The Assembly also approved a $261,000 recurring cut to the Juneau City Museum, staff said this will mean two layoffs and reduced public access.

Members also voted 5-4 for a one‑time $300,000 cut to the city’s grant for the Juneau Economic Development Council.

A $300,000 cut to staff travel and training was rejected.

Assembly members rejected a deeper, one‑time $250,000 cut to the Affordable Housing Fund, but later agreed to a smaller $150,000 reduction. Several members argued this is the wrong time to pull back on housing dollars.

“It is very hard for me to look at our actions and look at our process and look at where we are trying to go, and the things that people have said no to for cuts, speaking to the importance of their value to the community, and then turn around and say that we can afford a cut like this to the affordable housing fund.” Said Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs, “It does not make sense to me that rationale.”

The Assembly also kept a subsidy in place for Bartlett Regional Hospital’s home health and hospice program, while directing Bartlett to cover a separate, one‑time $247,000 substance use treatment grant for Gastineau Human Services.

They also approved a $20,000 one‑time cut to the city’s accessory dwelling unit grant program and voted to eliminate general fund support for the Jensen‑Olson Arboretum.

The Assembly declined to reduce funding for the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council or the Small Business Development Center.

A proposal to lease out the Douglas Fire Station failed after the fire chief warned it would worsen the island’s insurance rating and emergency response.

Committee members repeatedly emphasized that none of the reductions are final.

“These are not final decisions, what we are trying to do tonight is come to a holistic budget that we can pass to the full Assembly so that the public can get one more opportunity to give us feedback on it.” Said Finance Director Christine Woll, “Nothing is set in stone until we vote as a full Assembly on June 8.”

A complete budget, including any service cuts and use of savings is expected to go to the full Assembly and the public for a final vote June 8.

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‘Not to panic’ City Manager prepares public for tough budget talks

NOTN- Juneau’s city manager is urging residents to stay engaged and, not to panic as the Assembly prepares to confront a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall that could reshape what services the city provides.

“I think the message I want for the public is definitely be engaged, because, you know, this is where some of the real conversations start to happen, but not the panic. Because the silver lining to this exercise is we, everyone from staff to the assembly, and hopefully the public is learning a lot more about what our city does and the valuable service we provide and who we provide them for. And we should be doing that level of deep dive in our budget process.” Katie Koester said.

Koester said the Assembly’s Finance Committee will meet today to review $2 million to $4 million in potential service reductions, part of a broader effort to address an estimated $12 million budget gap over the next two years.

“The estimated gap we have is $12 million but we don’t really know that, so the assembly is trying to take a measured approach, over two years. They know that there’s going to be some cuts that impact services, so individually, they came up with $2 -4 million in service productions, and they’re looking at that collated a list (this) evening, so it will be the first time some people see, their favorite services, or their favorite things on a list.” Koester said.

The Juneau Independent has published a story detailing some of those potential cuts which can be read here.

The list of possible cuts will be presented publicly tonight.

She also cautioned against alarm, saying the process has forced the city, the Assembly and hopefully the public to take a deeper look at what the city does, who it serves and what those services are worth.

Koester said the priority is to avoid ‘nickel-and-diming’ every program and ending up with a city that does many things poorly.

“I think what we can not afford to do, and I think the assembly sees this, is to do a lot of things really poorly, right? The assembly is really trying to take a look at what things should we be doing? What things should we not be doing? and making sure that the services that we do provide, we continue to provide well.” She said.

Alongside potential cuts, the Assembly will also examine foregone revenue, areas where the city may not be collecting as much as it could under current policy.

That includes a fresh look at some sales tax exemptions and other practices that may be limiting the city’s ability to raise money without new tax hikes.

“I certainly think the future is bright, with a lot of development, with the coming of the Coast Guard and all of those things, right? We have more people. We have more economic activity that provides more tax revenue for services, more dollars circulating in our economy.” She said, “Those are all good things, because another thing that the assembly is looking at on (today) is foregone revenue. They’re taking a fresh look at just how we do things and why we do things.”

Still, the immediate focus will be on the detailed, sometimes uncomfortable budget work now beginning in public.

The Assembly is expected to continue its budget work in the coming weeks, with more public discussion as members narrow down which services to preserve and where to look for new or previously overlooked revenue before the budget is due in June.

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Assembly moves to terminate Revenue Sharing Agreement with Goldbelt on Gondola Project

NOTN- The City and Borough of Juneau is moving to terminate its revenue sharing agreement with Goldbelt, as discussed at a Committee of the Whole work session Monday night, over the proposed gondola project at Eaglecrest.

Mayor Beth Weldon said the Assembly’s Committee of the Whole voted to end the existing Revenue Sharing Agreement (RSA) with Goldbelt, citing mounting interest costs and concerns over the city’s fund balance.

At Monday night’s meeting City Manager Katie Koester introduced the Gondola issue, saying, “We have a 99% designed gondola, and all the parts and pieces for this mountain, and marketing that to an outside investor is certainly something that this body has expressed interest in. As a reminder repayment on May 1 is a little over $12 million. We have about $3.3 million left in the project account. However, there’s lots of moving pieces and encumbrances, and I’d like to leave at least, you know, half a million dollars in that account to cover some of those.”

“Goldbelt still wants to negotiate, but in the meantime, the revenue sharing agreement that we have keeps collecting interest, so we moved an ordinance to terminate the RSA with Goldbelt forward to the full assembly, accompanied by an appropriate ordinance for 9.5 million from fund balance and 2.7 million in the remaining gondola project. So we’re going to terminate the RSA agreement, but that doesn’t mean that we still won’t negotiate with Goldbelt or another entity to move forward.” Weldon said.

The city is advancing an ordinance to appropriate $9.5 million from its fund balance and $2.7 million from remaining gondola project funds. Those dollars would be used to satisfy the city’s obligations under the RSA.

“There was quite a bit of conversation that this will take our fund balance down considerably, but we have yet to do all of our work, and so we’re working on trying to put stuff back in the fund balance, and we have a ways to go.” She said.

The refund to Goldbelt could go out soon after the Assembly’s next regular meeting, Weldon said. “it will come in our next assembly meeting, if that passes, it will go through.” She added.

Weldon said she has already submitted budget-cutting ideas to help replenish reserves, though it will be up to the Assembly to decide what to adopt.

The gondola was one of three major financial and development topics discussed at the Assembly Committee of the Whole work session, alongside Telephone Hill development and child care funding.

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Cruise companies to Alaska are avoiding a popular excursion to Tracy Arm after a massive landslide

This photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey looks up Tracy Arm fjord to the terminus of the South Sawyer Glacier about 80 miles southeast of Juneau, Alaska, on Aug. 13, 2025, days after a landslide in the area. (John Lyons/U.S. Geological Survey via AP)
This photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey looks up Tracy Arm fjord to the terminus of the South Sawyer Glacier about 80 miles southeast of Juneau, Alaska, on Aug. 13, 2025, days after a landslide in the area. (John Lyons/U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

AP- For years, a popular part of many cruises in southeast Alaska has been sailing up Tracy Arm, a long, narrow fjord marked by steep mountains, glittering waterfalls and calving glaciers.

But this season, major cruise lines are skipping it. A massive landslide last summer sent parts of a glacier crashing into the water, generated a tsunami and pushed a wave high up the opposite mountain wall. Several companies opting out cited safety concerns with the still-hazardous slopes.

“Tracy Arm is the majestic princess, you know, she is the queen of fjords,” said travel agent Nate Vallier.

The destination cruise and tour companies have chosen as an alternative — nearby Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier — is “still beautiful by any means, but it’s just not the same,” he said.

Tracy Arm, southeast of Juneau, is a roughly 30-mile (50-kilometer) fjord that features two tidewater glaciers — the North and South Sawyer — and wildlife, including seals and bears.

Early on Aug. 10, 2025, a landslide originating high on a slope above the toe of the South Sawyer, near the head of the fjord, sent water surging more than a quarter mile (more than half a kilometer) up the mountain wall opposite the slide and out Tracy Arm.

No ships were in the fjord, officials said, and no deaths or injuries were reported. But kayakers camped on an island near where Tracy and Endicott arms meet had much of their gear swept away by the rushing water.

Southeast Alaska, largely encompassed by a temperate rainforest, is no stranger to landslides. And while it’s long been known the fjord network in the Tracy Arm region has been susceptible, the slope that failed had not been identified as an active hazard before last summer’s collapse, said Gabriel Wolken, manager of the state’s climate and ice hazards program.

Scientists are working to understand not only what caused the slope to collapse but to understand what other hazards might exist in the fjord, he said.

The area remains unstable, said Steven Sobieszczyk, a U.S. Geological Survey spokesperson. Steep landslide areas continue to change for years after an initial slide, he said by email.

“Continued rockfall and small-scale sliding from the exposed landslide scar are expected and could impact the water, potentially causing a future localized tsunami,” he said.

Major cruise companies, including Holland America, Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean said in response to inquiries from The Associated Press that they are replacing a Tracy Arm visit with Endicott Arm. MSC Cruises, Virgin Voyages and regional tour company Allen Marine also are doing Endicott and Dawes Glacier instead. Norwegian Cruise Line said it does not have voyages sailing by Tracy Arm.

Endicott already has been a stop for some ships previously and an alternative when conditions in Tracy Arm, such as excess ice, have been unsafe.

Vallier, who owns the Alaska Travel Desk, said he would have liked cruise companies to give travelers more advance notice about itinerary changes.

After leaving Seattle, the first ships of the season are due April 21 in Ketchikan and in Juneau the following week.

Seeing a glacier — particularly a dynamic, calving glacier — is a bucket-list item for many tourists, and that’s what has made Tracy Arm so popular, he said. While the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau is a major attraction for the capital city and cruise port, many visitors view it from across a large lake, and it has diminished or entirely retreated from view from some hiking overlooks.

Kimberly Lebeda of Wichita, Kansas, was excited when she booked tickets for a Tracy Arm excursion for her family last year. Lebeda, who researches areas she visits, said she was sold on the scenery.

But the night before the stop, they were told that due to ice in Tracy Arm, they would go up Endicott instead. Her family and others who’d booked the excursion got off the ship and onto a smaller boat with glass windows, abundant seating and snacks. They saw seals on ice floes, waterfalls and “a wall of ice” calve from Dawes Glacier, she said.

She called it “an amazing thing to witness.”

“Was it worth it? Yes, because I don’t know if I’ll ever get to do that trip again,” she said. “Again, I haven’t ever been to Tracy Arm so I can’t really compare. But to me, was it worth it and was it exciting? Absolutely.”

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Alaska Legislature moves to support international worker visas

Jobs wanted image

NOTN- An Alaska Senate committee on Wednesday advanced a resolution backing federal visa programs that lawmakers say are critical to the state’s seasonal workforce and public schools.

Senate Joint Resolution 28, heard in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, puts the Alaska Legislature on record in support of the J-1 and H-1B visa programs and urges the state’s congressional delegation to work with federal policymakers to preserve and strengthen them.

A similar resolution was heard in the Senate Education committee Wednesday as well, in support of H-1B international educators.

“Senate Joint Resolution 28 very simply, recognizes the important role that visa programs such as the J1 visa program, and the H-1B program, play to the economy and the education of children and young adults across Alaska.” Said legislative aide Mike Mason, “These international visa workers are vital to filling Alaska’s diverse workforce needs. If you travel around Alaska, especially this summer, you are going to see these visa workers filling very important jobs across the state. This resolution simply puts the Alaska legislature on record as supporting these visa programs.”

The measure also objects to a steep federal fee increase on certain H-1B petitions, from $5,000 to $100,000, which supporters say has effectively shut Alaska’s public schools out of the program.

“That fee effectively ended most employers ability to fill these open jobs through this program.” Mason said.

Lawmakers adopted an amendment, to explicitly include H-2B visas, which cover temporary nonagricultural workers.

Public testimony on the resolution was brief but supportive.

Jonathan Schaffer said his experience working with J-1 participants in seasonal jobs across the country showed clear benefits for both employers and workers.

“Having worked in seasonal employment across the United States with a number of J-1 enrollees, I can say that the program, in my opinion, benefits both employers and those enrolled in it. It is remarkable the opportunities that are provided for people in small communities to learn about the world around them from the people who travel there to serve visitors, who travel from all over the place. It is remarkable the benefit that those who enroll in the J-1 program have in gaining a more positive view of the United States, which they take back to their communities around the world.”

The committee voted without objection to move the resolution.

It now heads to further consideration in the Legislature.

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Juneau seeks public input on $24.5M cruise passenger fee spending plan

NOTN- Juneau officials are asking residents to weigh in on how millions of dollars collected from cruise ship passengers should be spent in the coming year.

The City and Borough of Juneau has released draft recommendations for allocating Marine Passenger Fee revenue and is accepting public comments through May 3.

Each cruise visitor to Juneau pays $13 in fees, which must be used for projects that support the tourism industry or address its impacts on the community.

“Really what people need to know is we get $13 per passenger, and that these funds are restricted on how they can be used.” Said Tourism Manager Alex Pierce, “Every year I get messages that are like, ‘how come we can’t spend this money on my street in the valley, busses drive on it, and it needs to be repaved, and I want to spend passenger fees there.’ The funds are actually restricted by the US Constitution. So under the US Constitution, the fees have to serve the vessel itself. That gets a little bit complicated when you get into human cargo. So we’ve always kind of had a push pull with where and how we can spend this money.”

City officials say the current proposal would allocate about $24.5 million across operating, grant and capital projects.

Recommended spending includes funding to offset increased demand on city services such as police, fire and emergency response, along with street maintenance, parks and expanded bus service during the busy cruise season.

Other proposed projects focus on infrastructure improvements in downtown Juneau, including upgrades to the water system, expansion of public Wi-Fi, maintenance and extension of the seawalk, and additional public restrooms.

All comments received by the May 3 deadline will be reviewed alongside the draft recommendations before being sent to the Assembly Finance Committee on May 6. The plan will then move to the full Assembly for consideration as part of the city’s upcoming budget process.

Residents can submit comments by email or mail to the city manager’s office.

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Juneau Assembly reviews Goldbelt’s West Douglas cruise port plan

Rendering of proposed Welcome Center provided by Golbelt.

NOTN- The Juneau Assembly held a Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night and among a number of meaty topics, reviewed Goldbelt Inc.’s proposal to develop a large-scale cruise ship facility and supporting infrastructure on West Douglas.

“we’re still just getting in more information on the project.” Said Deputy Mayor Greg Smith, “We want to hear more about master planning back there, because it’s potentially significant development, there’s hundreds of acres of what we believe to be much better developable land for housing.”

Mayor Beth Weldon said the proposed project, still in its early stages, would include extending North Douglas Road, building an onshore terminal and parking area, wastewater treatment facilities, a small boat harbor, and two cruise ship berths.

The project, nicknamed “Goldbelt Aaní” has no officially announced opening date.

According to Goldbelt, Goldbelt Aaní, will highlight Lingít culture and boost the city’s economy.

The Assembly also discussed updating the West Douglas master plan, which will help guide long-term development on the island.

“We’d like authorization to start doing some master planning.” said Smith, “The assembly said, Yes, bring in some more information about what Master Planning might look like, how much it might cost, try to work in collaboration with Goldbelt, should they want to.”

The Master plan along with Goldbelt’s proposed cruise port, involves potentially developing hundreds of acres of land, with a critical focus from the city on establishing a second crossing to enable future development.

“We felt that there should be master planning in relation to their project. Goldbelt doesn’t feel like there should be.” said Smith, “We have to figure things out, you know, if they want to use utilities out there, or emergency services and other city services like that.”

According to the city, public outreach and public comment will be a big part of the master plan process, which will proceed as Goldbelt prepares to submit a conditional use permit.

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City considers legislative passenger limits and new tourism task Force

NOTN- The Juneau Assembly is considering new ways to manage the city’s visitor industry, which saw an increase this summer, including the possibility of formal passenger limits on cruise ship arrivals.

At Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, officials discussed formalizing mooring agreements for docks and potentially advancing caps on visitor numbers, moving beyond current memorandums of agreement with the industry and making it official legislation.

“We will be looking at supporting the community’s ability to assess and manage growth.” Mayor Beth Weldon said Monday morning.

Mayor Weldon also said the Assembly introduced a new Visitor Industry Task Force that will pick up where the previous group left off.

“The task force will basically take up where the last one dropped off, and also continue to look at managing community impacts with infrastructure. And if that’s working well or not.” she said, noting that whale-watching will be a particular focus.

More than 1.7 million cruise visitors arrived in Juneau this season, according to city data.

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Advocates work on cleaner cruise ship fuels following record tourism year

A cruise ship emerges from a fog bank Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

NOTN- As Alaska wraps up another strong cruise season with over 3 million visitors to the state, Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl says work is ongoing to reduce environmental impacts from visiting ships, including discussions about transitioning to cleaner fuels.

Kiehl said Juneau’s port saw about 1.7 million cruise visitors this year, a slight increase from 2024, according to industry data presented at the Alaska Travel Industry Association conference.

Kiehl, who has long advocated for environmental safety in the visitor industry, said he’s in talks about transitioning from scrubber systems, which trap air pollutants but can discharge waste into the ocean, to cleaner-burning fuels.

“It’s got a price tag, and some of the lines are talking to me about what that costs and what the impact would be, and some are keeping that a trade secret, which makes it a little harder to make a good, rational policy decision.” Said Kiehl.

Kiehl said he has no new policies, proposals or bills to announce, but attended a panel hosted by the Southeast Conservation Council, and says, “The best outcome, is to have a visitor industry that’s good for the economy but doesn’t have those impacts on the environment. We’re trying to find the best pathway to get there.”

According to SEACC, discharge from scrubber systems can be toxic to marine life even at very low concentrations.

Aaron Brakel of SEACC writes, “While scrubbers may seem beneficial — removing pollution from the air —  they allow ships to continue burning dirty fuel, transferring those pollutants to the millions of gallons of acidic, polluted wastewater discharged into our living marine waters daily.”

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Juneau Mayor shares tourism lessons with Greenland delegation as cruise season closes

NOTN- As Juneau wraps up another long cruise ship season, Mayor Beth Weldon says the city recently hosted a delegation from Greenland seeking advice on how to develop its own cruise tourism industry.

The delegation met with Juneau officials this week to learn from the capital city’s experience as one of Alaska’s busiest cruise ports.

“Population 58,000 in their whole country, it was a pleasure to talk to them. ” Weldon said, “They are looking at building a couple of docks, and so they’re going around talking to people and hearing what we have to say. So one of the questions is, what have you learned? So some of the things we shared were, control your growth, make sure you bring the community along, make sure you know what’s sacred to the community so you don’t screw that part up.”

Weldon said she also emphasized the importance of maintaining local identity within the tourism economy. “We do well with local people running excursions, and most of our stores are almost all locally owned,” she said. “Instead of just having some place where the cruise ships own everything, or another entity owns everything. But this way, the benefits from the tourism industry certainly helped the locals.”

The conversation came as Juneau’s 2025 cruise season came to a close with the arrival of the final ship on Tuesday afternoon. Weldon said the season provided a welcome boost to the economy, but added that residents are also ready for a little breathing room.

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