The Ketchikan City Council approved the city’s general government and utilities budgets for 2026 during its Thursday night meeting.
The city oversees several public services, like utilities and street maintenance. One of the city’s top budget priorities for 2026 is to keep the same amount of those services available to city residents as it did this year. The city is also trying to increase wages for city employees by allocating an additional $1.8 million compared to 2025.
If costs for next year’s budget are met, the city will need to pull about $15.5 million from its reserves. And the city has pulled from its reserves in recent years. Council member Jack Finnegan said this may be partially because past city council members didn’t move to raise taxes or utility rates to upgrade the city’s aging infrastructure.
“I don’t see an alternative,” Finnegan said. “I don’t see another way that we can operate and provide the services that our citizens expect and require.”
Acting city and KPU manager Lacey Simpson said any increase in costs for next year’s budget should not exceed more than 5%. She also said some of this year’s city capital improvement projects were postponed because the city couldn’t afford it.
“So I think that’s going to be a focus for certainly this next year and beyond, in terms of how to properly support those activities so that we can continue to meet the best level of service for city residents and also KPU customers,” Simpson said.
The city projects that its total available funds for next year is about $196 million. The projected spending is $119 million, which is about $2.5 million more than this year. The city’s projected revenues are $104 million, or roughly $16 million more than this year.
The city council approved the general government budget in a 4-3 vote. The approval comes after several budget meetings this month, and a budget work session in June.
The city council also approved the separate KPU budget in a unanimous vote. That includes a requested $79 million in appropriations, roughly $6.5 million more from this year’s budget.
The new budget also includes recommended rate increases to cover increased costs in materials and services. The suggested rate increases include a half percent seasonal sales tax increase and a property tax mill rate increase, among others. Those rate increases have not been approved by the city council and have not gone into effect.
Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.
