Property owners in the Kodiak Island Borough will be paying less in property taxes this year after the borough assembly decreased the mill rate last month on June 5.
One mill represents $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. For example, a mill rate of 10 means you will pay $10 for every $1,000 of your property’s assessed value.
Borough Assembly member Bo Whiteside proposed that this year’s mill rate should be about 2 % less than last year’s, lowered from 8.91 to 8.75 mills.
“This mill rate represents [a] balanced budget… but thinking about just basic inflationary increases, it allows for that from fiscal year to fiscal year," he said. "So, I think this is a reasonable proposal, and it also provides some relief to our community with the mill rate.”
Some assembly members, like Dave Johnson and Jeffery Woods, wanted to at least keep the same mill rate as last year, but most of the members voted in favor of a slightly lowered rate for the entire borough.
Johnson, who has resigned from his seat on the borough assembly, warned the assembly that by lowering the mill rate again this year then the borough will have roughly “$500,000 less in revenue generating capacity next year,” due to the borough’s tax cap also known as the maximum allowable property tax revenue, or MAPTR.
The new mill rate of 8.75 mills means a property owner with an assessed value of $300,000 would owe $2,625 in property taxes. The full list of property taxes for various service areas in the Kodiak Island Borough is included below:
- For Womens Bay Road Service Area property owners, which includes the Womens Bay Fire Protection Area, a property tax of 4.5 mills will be levied in addition to the borough wide mill rate for a total of 13.25 mills.
- For Service Area No. 1 property owners, which includes Fire Protection Area No. 1, a property tax of 3 mills will be levied in addition to the borough wide mill rate for a total of 11.75 mills. That rate will vary slightly depending on if the property is located within the Woodland Acres Street Lighting area, the Mission Lake Tide Gate area, or the Trinity Islands Street Lighting area.
- For Monashka Bay Road Service Area property owners, which includes Fire Protection Area No. 1, a property tax of 3.49 mills will be levied in addition to the borough wide mill rate for a total of 12.24 mills. For those who have properties without road service in this area, their property tax rate will be 10.25 mills instead.
- For Bay View Road Service Area property owners, which includes Fire Protection Area No. 1, a property tax of 2.97 mills will be levied in addition to the borough wide mill rate for a total of 11.72 mills.
- For Airport Fire Protection Service Area property owners, a property tax of 1.25 mills will be levied for service area purposes in addition to the borough wide mill rate for a total of 10 mills.
As for property owners in the city, the mill rate was again set at two mills this year; it’s been the same since 1985. That means the total property tax rate is 10.75 mills or $10.75 for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value in the city.
Tax statements from the borough started going out to property owners via mail as of July 1. If you’re paying property taxes in a single payment then the due date is Oct. 15. But if you’re paying in two payments, then half is due on Aug. 15 and the second half is due on Nov. 15 according to the borough’s website.
And for transparency, Borough Mayor Jared Griffin is also the general manager at KMXT. Per KMXT’s policy, he does not have any editorial influence over news stories and doesn’t review them before they air.
