How to spend proceeds from a boroughwide tobacco tax is in front of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly on Monday.
In fall of 2016, voters approved an excise tax on tobacco products. The borough started collecting that tax in January of 2017. Proceeds were to be split, with 85 percent going to the school district’s reserve fund and 15 percent going toward grants for tobacco cessation or healthcare programs.
According to the borough, a request for grant proposals generated one submission from Southeast Prevention Services. A review team rejected that proposal.
Southeast Prevention Services has asked the borough to re-issue an RFP with more specific guidelines. But borough staff has recommended that the assembly designate 100 percent of tobacco tax revenue to the school district, with the intention that a portion of it be used for the district’s tobacco prevention education programs.
Also Monday, the assembly will vote on adopting an ordinance that doubles the fine for failure to clean up dog waste on borough property. The ordinance also allows people to have off-leash dogs at Weiss Fields next to Point Higgins Elementary School when the field is not in use for scheduled activities.
Monday’s meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. in borough assembly chambers at White Cliff building. Public comment will be heard at the start of the meeting.
