It doesn't make any sense to export property taxes to the Mat-Su Borough and then have these same co

Andrew Halcro, 50, was born in Anchorage and has spent most of his life here. His business career includes working at his family s businesses: Avis Rent a Car and Windjammer Cruises of Hawaii. He was elected as a state representative in 1998 and 2000, and most recently was president of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce. Halcro is among the 12 who have filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission as a candidate for Mayor of Anchorage, a race that will be settled on an April 7 Election Day. He recently stopped by the Channel 2 News studio for a Q A, and he completed a candidate questionnaire.
economy rent a car macon EDITOR’S NOTE: All filed candidates were invited to the studio to answer the same questions in an on-camera economy rent a car macon Q A and offered an opportunity economy rent a car macon to complete a more extensive questionnaire. economy rent a car macon We’ll share their responses on PIPELINE economy rent a car macon and during economy rent a car macon newscasts.
I started work in the family business, Avis Rent a Car at fifteen. Because I wasn’t old enough to drive, economy rent a car macon I spent my first year working in the shop detailing sale cars and washing cars at our downtown office on the corner of 5 th B Street. When I turned sixteen I began working the 6:30am to 3:30pm shift on Saturday and Sunday, managing the car wash at the Anchorage Airport. I was the shift supervisor, managing a crew of four employees. When I was seventeen I moved up to work at the rental counter at the airport, and then eventually worked my way up through the office as fleet manager and director of sales marketing. In the early 1990’s I took a temporary assignment as Vice President of Sales Marketing for another of my family’s economy rent a car macon companies, Windjammer Cruises of Hawaii. I managed the reorganization of our sales department offices in Honolulu, Maui, Guam and Saipan. After 29 years in the family business, I was named President and CEO of Avis Alaska. In 2015, Avis Alaska celebrates its 60 th year in Alaska, and is one of the oldest and most successful statewide family businesses, operating in eleven different Alaskan communities with 125 employees.
In 2012, recognizing that I had several young and capable nieces and nephews working in the business, I decided to pursue other opportunities. In December 2012, I was hired as the President of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, the largest business organization economy rent a car macon in Alaska. When I was hired, economy rent a car macon I was given two directives: make the chamber profitable and make the chamber relevant.  As president during the last two years, we beat earnings projections by 45% and we’ve developed economy rent a car macon groundbreaking private partnerships that had never been done before by any chamber of commerce in the country. Our efforts in working with fellow economy rent a car macon non-profits economy rent a car macon on improving workforce development and diversity have strengthened the community and are improving public school outcomes.
The last book I read was The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Dianne Ravitch. My favorite book is a tie between Ron Chernow’s biography Alexander Hamilton and Stephan Ambrose biography Eisenhower .
D.) I will restructure city government. Coming from a life in the private sector, the current economy rent a car macon municipal organizational chart is a collection of disparate departments without a consistent management hierarchy and accountability.
As a former state legislator who served in Juneau during the last fiscal crisis, I know what lawmakers will consider in evaluating cuts to the budget. This year I think lawmakers will try and inventory exactly what their choices are, and develop a plan in conjunction with the administration. I believe economy rent a car macon what we’ve already seen from the governor’s proposed budget is the nibbling around the edges and the hard decisions won’t come this year, they will come in the next few years.
This past year the city received $14 million in revenue sharing. This will be one of the first cuts to be discussed, as it is considered low hanging fruit in Juneau. Because this is just a check the legislature sends to communities every year, it’s an easy cut to make because you are not laying off employees or dismantling programs, economy rent a car macon you are simply no longer sending a check.
In order to make up the difference we must do three things: Grow the economy to increase revenue and broaden the tax base, manage the cost of local government better (right now the city is $25 million economy rent a car macon over budget on a $9 million project), and begin honest conversations with local residents about alternative revenue sources so we don’t pile more burden on property taxpayers.
Over the last six years, with record high oil prices and a state government flush with cash, the city has been able to reduce the total bond debt significantly by getting Juneau to pay more of local expenses. With the collapse in oil prices, we have set ourselves up for a return to relying on local taxpayers to bond for roads, schools and capital projects.
I believe local residents have valid concerns about adopting a sales tax and then inevitably seeing an eventual increase in both the sales tax and their property taxes as the cost of government grows. However, a sales tax can be crafted with sufficient protections to both generate new revenue, as well as offer property tax relief. The reality is that a sales tax is the only alternative source that could be used to generate revenue to the city. There are several reasons why Anchorage needs to seriously consider a sales tax, and they all stem from my experience in the legislature.
a.) Sales taxes are typically reserved for local governments to raise revenue. However, as the state’s budget is cut, the conversation will switch to a broad based tax. A sales tax has always been the legislatures preferred option, because it’s defensible economy rent a car macon in a state that provides a cash dividend and provides more state services per capita than any other. Anchorage residents will end up paying the tax but yet get none of the revenue if a state sales tax is approved.
b.) A local sales tax will get a contributions from the over one million tourist, thousands of seasonal workers and the 40% of Mat-Valley workforce that commute to work in Anchorage and impact local roads and services.
c.) A local sales tax ensures that everybody contributes to the cost of schools, roads, economy rent a car macon police and fire. This will include those who operate in the underground economy like drug dealers, who purchase goods and services everyday in Anchorage, and who have a significant impact on city services like public safety.
In every business I have managed, economy rent a car macon wages and health care costs have been the biggest cost drivers in my budgets. I have managed these cost successfully by containing annual increases, adopting health and wellness programs to reduce health care costs and improving the overall management of the organization to ensure the affordability of retaining qualified and motivated employees.
The city has a healthy economy with a 5.1% unemployment rate, which is the envy of the state. It’s too early to talk about concessions, especially in an environment where we are 50 police officers short and face an aging workforce. If the time comes, we will certainly have those conversations.
Even with the recent fight over labor costs with AO37, the city has since negotiated several contracts with bargaining units that came in under what the law mandated, showing that these costs are manageable.
A transportation survey recently found that more Anchorage residents fly or bike to work than use public transportation systems. As we face a difficult fiscal situation, what can the city do to improve public transit?
economy rent a car macon Anchorage has a great public transit system with a robust People Mover, Anchor Rides and ride sharing options. The use of technology by Anchorage’s transit department is the best in the country. The route system and associated cost need to be managed by the continued use of data to ensure we are utilizing our public transit assets to their maximum capacity. economy rent a car macon Currently we have several routes that are underutilized and some that need additional capacity. economy rent a car macon While route changes cause heartburn within the community, the fact is that the cost of operating a bus is $140 per hour, and each route costs the city one million dollars per year, so they must make financial sense. The system faces significant challenges in the coming years with the need to replace 18 buses that equates to 1/3 of its fleet at a cost of $400,000 per bus. This will need to be paid for by a combination of bonds, federal transportation grants and rider fees.
It doesn’t make any sense to export property taxes to the Mat-Su Borough and then have these same commuters come back over the bridge to impact our schools, roads and public safety without any contribution. With little or no infrastructure on the Valley economy rent a car macon side of the bridge, an intense opposition to zoning, and a State Trooper detachment that has to cover an area the size of West Virginia, pushing thousands of commuters into the farthest reaches of the Mat-Su Borough at a time when the state doesn’t have any money to pay for these services, means Anchorage residents will pay more, while the Mat-Su Borough reaps the property tax revenue.
In addition, one of the biggest issues facing Anchorage is affordable housing. Two of the most prime areas in Anchorage for redevelopment are east downtown and Fairview. Building the bridge would send thousands of cars past two of the most desirable and undervalued areas of town. The end result would be existing local property owners would have to not only pay for those coming back across the bridge, but they would be robbed by the inability to enjoy property tax relief through the broadening economy rent a car macon of the tax base. A better solution would be for the city to get aggressive with property tax credits, such as the legislation I passed as a state lawmaker that made the completion of the McKay Building downtown economically viable and put a previously dilapidated property on the property tax roles.
I firmly believe economy rent a car macon the $600,000 the city spent on the grand plan of Ship Creek should have been used for something that would have ac