A man drove a truck into three Ketchikan businesses early this morning, causing over $90,000 dollars of damage. 48-year-old Dale Withem of Ketchikan is being charged with five felonies as the driver.

Ketchikan Police Department responded to a report of a man driving intentionally through the glass front doors of McDonald’s just after midnight, according to initial charging documents. Police say that at the scene, Withem admitted to an officer that he crashed the vehicle into the front doors of the McDonald’s as well as nearby Madison Lumber and Hardware. 

The officer then drove to Madison and found the business’ front door, door frame and structural walls pushed in from the crash. 

A video obtained by police also showed the defendant driving into the front glass doors of Tongass Marine Store. 

Further investigation found the pickup truck Withem was driving was stolen.

Withem’s arraignment hearing was this morning at the Ketchikan Courthouse. He is being charged with five Class C felonies — four counts of criminal mischief in the third degree and one count of vehicle theft in the first degree. 

The investigation is ongoing.

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On a recent sunny morning, natural light flooded the housing complex’s first floor. To the right was a large community room, equipped with a kitchen and dotted with cedar art. 

Melissa O’Bryan, the Ketchikan Indian Community’s housing project development coordinator, exited the large space and walked down the hall to a studio apartment. 

“Each unit comes furnished with a full-size bed, an armoire for their clothes, a table and two chairs,” she said. “We have TVs going up.” 

It’s one of 28 living spaces inside the tribe’s new, three-story permanent supportive housing complex. Each single-occupancy apartment is also equipped with a full kitchen, bathroom, shower and other household staples.  

And the housing complex isn’t just for tribal members. It will serve everyone 55 and older experiencing chronic homelessness. The tribe is working with other local groups to identify and bring in the community’s most vulnerable.

The facility, located across the street from the Plaza Mall, is not just designed to house people who are struggling. It’s laid out to feel welcoming, like a home. Throughout each apartment are flares of Native culture, from formline bed comforters to Indigenous art coloring books. There are also visiting areas, a community room with crafting supplies, a laundry room and more. 

“We often find that our unhoused population are told to leave, told to go away, and we needed to have a beautiful place where we’re saying ‘We’re inviting you in, and we built this for you,” said Myrna Chaney, the tribe’s housing director. She said the new complex creates a sense of belonging in part because it’s reminiscent of Southeast Alaska. 

“And that was thought of when we were building the space, that it wasn’t going to be something that was not beautiful,” Chaney said.  

Homeless facilities in Ketchikan are few and far between. The city’s main shelter closed in 2024. 

But the tribe’s been developing long-term housing solutions for the community’s unhoused for nearly five years. Tribal leaders wanted permanent supportive housing – a leasing model with in-house case management and living assistance. That includes help with day-to-day tasks and offering basic classes. It will be staffed 24/7. 

Tenants will be under six-month leases, although they’ll be able to extend if needed. Rent will also be subsidized. O’Bryan said tenants will have the same rights and responsibilities as a renter. 

“We want people to feel like this is home,” O’Bryan said. “This is welcoming, and it’s down to the staff that we put in the building. It’s down to the spaces that are designed. It’s down to the touches in the room.”

“It was designed with the intention of dignity and respect and hope,” O’Bryan added.  

That frame of mind even goes down to the facility’s name – Yee gu.aa yax xˈwán. That’s a Lingit phrase meaning “be strong and have courage.” Tribal leaders say that name conveys the importance of having people behind you, supporting you and holding you up. 

The tribe is working through the housing application process with half a dozen people who will likely move in by the end of the month. Chaney, the tribe’s housing director, said she’s excited to see what the community’s unhoused will be able to do now that they have a place to live. 

“I’m looking forward to knowing that if they are outside, they just had a warm shower at home, and they had something warm to eat in their room, in their unit,” Chaney said. “But mostly, just looking forward to not seeing them over there across the street at the bus stop, but actually inside sleeping and feeling safe.”

The facility was funded with the help of federal, state and borough dollars. 

And the housing complex isn’t the only tribal facility that will be on site. Nearby will be a four-story navigation center that will provide additional resources, like a year-round warming shelter and classes, for the community’s unhoused. That’s set to open next year.  

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.

The post KIC opens supportive housing for elders appeared first on KRBD.

A Ketchikan man was sentenced to ten years in prison, with three suspended, for stabbing his landlord last October. Justin Carpenter, age 46, was sentenced by Ketchikan Superior Court Judge Katherine Lybrand yesterday.

Carpenter was found guilty of assault in the first degree after a weeklong trial in April. The jury found him not guilty of an attempted murder charge. 

The sentence is the legal minimum for Carpenter’s charges. During the hearing, Judge Lybrand said that while it is a serious offense, she believes Carpenter is capable of rehabilitation. 

“I do think that Mr. Carpenter doesn’t need to otherwise be confined to prevent further harm to the public beyond the active minimum,” Lybrand said. “That’s somewhat based in terms of the history of violence or lack thereof.”

A psychologist who evaluated Carpenter in the Ketchikan Correctional Center said that while in jail he’s shown promise for rehabilitation and low risk for violence in the future. 

In October, Carpenter stabbed his landlord three times in the chest and once in the neck after he grabbed Carpenter by the wrist during a dispute over laundry. Carpenter’s attorney said it was a case of self defense, which the judge denied. 

The state asked for 20 years with eight suspended, which is the maximum legal sentence. State prosecutor Jackson Willard argued that the seriousness of the multiple stab wounds and Carpenter’s involvement with alcohol warranted a sentence that focuses on isolation and deterrence. 

Ariel Toft, the public defender representing Carpenter, argued that his lack of violent history made this case an isolated incident.  

“This is a serious offense, but it’s also a highly situational offense,” Toft said. “I don’t think that there’s any need to confine Mr. Carpenter beyond the time that he’s already served, other than the fact that the law in this circumstance requires it.”

Carpenter will face five years of supervised probation on release.

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The distant sound of crashing waves rang through the tree line of Refuge Cove State Recreation Area, north of Ketchikan. The park was a favorite of Sean Griffin, who lived just walking distance from the area. He died in the 3rd Avenue Bypass landslide.

“Before he passed away, we walked down here every night unless it was blowing sideways,” said Sarah Griffin, Sean’s wife. She said the two would often watch sunsets at the recreation area.

“And then, now, it’s a spot for the kids and I and his mom to come to, just to kind of remember,” Sarah said. “And it’s a beautiful spot.” 

On August 25, the landslide’s two year anniversary, the site’s forest-covered picnic area was dotted with dozens of Sean’s friends, family and fellow community members. They were there to honor and remember Sean at a memorial plaque dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony. 

The memorial, atop a small bluff, overlooks the Tongass Narrows, where Sean spent a lot of his free time. 

Sean was born and raised in Ketchikan, and worked for the city for 17 years. He started as a solid waste collector, then operator. He later moved to the streets department, where he was promoted to senior maintenance technician. 

His wife remembers him as a go-getter, who enjoyed working with his hands. She said his dedication to the job, and to his community, is why Sean was working on the day the landslide hit. 

“I think it speaks volumes to his character that he was on vacation, but he still went in when he was called in,” Sarah said. “And ultimately, his last call.”

Duane Galloway, who worked with Sean at the streets department, looked back at his coworker’s commitment to the community. He said Sean had a great attitude and an open heart, and was a good person to work with. 

“He was a self-teacher,” Galloway said. “He has a goal, like, ‘Hey, I can do that.’ He’s never done it before, but he’ll do it. He’s our guinea pig.”

“And then he’ll learn, and then he’ll teach someone else how to do it, which is cool,” Galloway added.

Galloway said it was an honor to help install Sean’s memorial plaque. A number of other groups, including Ketchikan High School’s National Honor Society, helped bring the memorial to Refuge Cove. Underneath the plaque are signatures of everyone Sean worked with at the streets department. 

And the plaque spells out who Sean was as a person. He was a husband. He was a brother. He was a friend. 

But he was also a dad of four boys. Each of his children’s names is on the post holding the plaque. 

Sarah, his wife, said Sean loved being a father. 

“He was quiet, but he was always – he was the kind of guy that would give you the shirt off his back, but he wouldn’t want you to mention it,” Sarah said.

And it’s not just a plaque that was dedicated in Sean’s honor. There’s also a memorial tree, planted as a testament to his enduring memory. 

Those who knew him said Sean did not enjoy being the center of attention, and a memorial dedication like this would not have been his style. But his wife said she wants the community to remember his legacy, and the memorial is just a small way to do that.

“He was the quiet guy behind the scenes who just did it, so he would have been pissed that we’re making a big deal out of it,” Sarah said. “But we all really loved him, so we don’t want anyone to forget.”

Ketchikan’s city and borough mayors read proclamations at the ceremony remembering the 2024 landslide and Sean. A rotary phone was also set up at the memorial for people to share stories or leave messages to the family. 

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.

The post Memorial unveiled for victim of deadly Ketchikan landslide appeared first on KRBD.

A minor is being charged with 14 felony counts, including three attempted murder charges, and 1 misdemeanor count, after he allegedly opened fire at police officers in Klawock, on the western side of Prince of Wales Island. 

The Klawock Police Department was called to a residence on South Summit Street Monday night after a supposed disturbance involving a juvenile. Police say they were attempting to speak with family members in the living room when a 17-year-old came out of a bedroom with a rifle and fired at an officer. The officer was uninjured and evacuated the other residents of the home. 

Alaska State Troopers were called to assist as they say the teen continued shooting at officers from inside the home. Police and Troopers say they attempted to talk him into exiting the home unarmed, but he refused and continued to threaten them. 

Troopers say they deployed chemicals into the home and the teen surrendered. No injuries were reported. The teen was booked at the Craig Jail and has since been transferred to the Division of Juvenile Justice in Juneau. 

Magistrate Judge Kimberly Rice presided over the arraignment hearing Tuesday. The teen’s next court appearance is scheduled for September 4 at the Prince of Wales Courthouse. 

The public defender assigned to the case was not immediately available for inquiries.

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.

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Tommy Haugum has filed to run for a three-year term on the Ketchikan City Council.

There are three council seats up for grabs. Two of them are for three-year terms, and one is a one-year term. This is Haugum’s first time running for city council.

KRBD’s Sydney Dauphinais sat down with Haugum to talk about his priorities and decision to run. 

Tommy Haugum: I’m Tommy Haugum, and I am running for a three-year seat for city council. I’ve lived here almost two years now, and I’m looking forward to serving the community.

Dauphinais: Why did you decide to run for city council?

Haugum: I’m pretty active in the community, and so I get to have a lot of conversations with different residents. One thing that I’ve heard a lot of is a desire for some change in our local government leadership. So when the open seats were announced, I got a lot of encouragement to run for one. And after a lot of consideration, I finally decided to put my name in the hat and try to be one of those voices of change.

Dauphinais: What are your main priorities?

Haugum: I believe very strongly that the local government can support infrastructure and services for year-round residents as well as tourism, and try to provide the best experience that tourists can have when they visit this town. So one of the things that I hear a lot of is we have too many tourists, and why can’t there be a cap on tourism? And then when I have deeper conversations with people about it, I find it’s not necessarily the cap that tends to be the desire. It’s a fear that we don’t have the policies in place to support the amount of tourists that we have. Crowd control is a big issue. I hear a lot about maintenance. You know, can our docks and ports handle the amount of tourists that we have coming in? Can our boardwalks, can our stairs, can our trails handle it? I think these are important issues that local governments should be reviewing and discussing and implementing policies to help with.

Dauphinais: So, if elected, what is something that you would like to accomplish on the council?

Haugum: I hope there will be enough like-minded people on the council that we actually can make change. And then for those changes, I would like to see services and policies that really help our year-round residents feel better, and I would like to see a lot of changes in the policies that we have that address tourism and the amount of tourism that we have. I’d like to see if we can address, especially crowd control is a big one. I think if we were able to figure out a way to get a handle on that, it would make vast improvements in the quality of life for the residents here.

Dauphinais: What kind of community engagement or leadership experience do you think could be helpful in this position?

Haugum: I don’t have any government experience yet. But I have worked in leadership roles in behavioral health for many years. I have a master’s in business administration that I think would be beneficial for me in this role as well as the council. I’m a veteran, and my whole life has been working in industries where I’m helping people and serving.

Dauphinais: Awesome. What is something that you want listeners to know about you?

Haugum: Well, one thing I think is important to know is that I can’t promise that any change is going to happen. I don’t think any individual candidate can. It takes a group of like-minded individuals working together to make that change. So, I think that residents and voters should really listen to these interviews or read the transcripts and learn the names of the people that most align with their views, and get to the polls and vote, because that’s the only way real change is going to happen.

The post Tommy Haugum files to run for Ketchikan City Council appeared first on KRBD.

Local business owner Spencer Strassburg has filed to run for a one year term on the Ketchikan City Council.

There’s only one one-term seat available. The other two seats up for grabs are for three-year terms. Strassburg is currently the only candidate in the running for the one year seat.

KRBD’s Sydney Dauphinais sat down with Strassburg to talk about his decision to run.

Spencer Strassburg: I was from Washington state as a kid and spent about 12 years in Florida, getting some of my early business education, and then I sold everything I had and moved my family to Ketchikan in 1997. I live here with my significant other Julie. Most of us know us as Julie and Spencer. We’re kind of a team.

Sydney Dauphinais: Why are you running for city council?

Strassburg: I ran previously in 2015, 2016. I think I might have skipped 2017 or 2018, and then again in 2019 and 2020. So about five years I ran before, and took the last six years off to kind of learn how to keep my mouth closed. I’ve been working on my business strategies and new trainings and working on my team during that time and kind of living under the status quo since then, and I’ve kind of decided I need to throw my hat in the ring again in an effort to try to bring a business focus to the council.

Dauphinais: If elected, what is something that you would like to accomplish on the council?

Strassburg: My primary focus would be to figure out how to extract more revenue from the cruise ship industry. It’s absolutely ridiculous that 8,000 people are having a hard time keeping the lights and the water on, and the multi-billion dollar companies are posting record-breaking profits. It’s just a direct sign that we’re not doing business properly somehow.

Dauphinais: What kind of community engagement or leadership experience do you have that you feel would be helpful in this role?

Strassburg: I’ve been working on leadership training pretty significantly while I’ve been away. In particular, I’ve spent about a quarter of a million dollars in training in 2026 alone to build my team and myself stronger. All my people have sales training and coaches, and that’s what’s really made me understand that we’re making some mistakes in our management of the port. That asset’s not properly being managed, and that’s why we’re not getting the revenue that we deserve there.

Dauphinais: What is something that you would like listeners to know about you? 

Strassburg: That I’m honest and transparent. I think most people that have seen me run before know that I’m just speaking exactly what I think, and I think that’s really refreshing right now. I think that transparency is something that the voter is really seeking, and that’s what you’ll get from me. I only applied for the one-year seat because I don’t want you to trust what I say. I want you to test me. If I’m not making decent results or satisfactory results in the one year that I’m there… I don’t expect everything to be done overnight, but if we’re not seeing some action, I’ll take myself out of there because we don’t need anybody else camping out in that seat. We need change. We need change, and we need to act immediately.

The post Spencer Strassburg on his decision to run for Ketchikan City Council appeared first on KRBD.

Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly member Sharli Arntzen has filed to run for reelection. If elected, this would be Arntzen’s second term on the assembly.

There are three 3-year assembly seats up for grabs this upcoming municipal election. KRBD spoke with Arntzen about why she decided to run again.

This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.

Hunter Morrison: Why are you running for borough assembly?

Sharli Arntzen: Honestly, I’m running for borough assembly because I’ve just completed my first term as an elected official after three years. So I’m asking Ketchikan if they’d like to rehire me for the position once again. Now that I have three years under my belt, I think I understand a lot more about the processes and the way that things interact. So, how do I take that knowledge and information I’ve gained over the last three years and reinvest that back into our community?

Morrison: What are your main priorities?

Arntzen: My main priorities as an elected official is to serve with care, diligence and integrity. That to me means showing up. It means being present. It means coming prepared to meetings, reading the materials, getting questions asked.

My priorities, though, when I’m looking at what’s important for Ketchikan, I think about our future, and I think about what is going to be here for my children in 10 or 20 years. So we talk a lot about housing. That’s a really big hot button issue with my background in real estate. I think I bring a lot of knowledge and information and experience to those conversations. I also served on the planning commission for 10 years, so I have a lot of information about our zoning codes, and I have some ideas for ways that we can continue to increase the housing stock and inventory in our community, which will help stabilize prices. I think economic development is really important in our community, diversity of our economy, and how we do that in a way that does not punish local folks, but enhances daily life. But also supports our small businesses as well as our tourism industry. I think we’re missing the mark possibly when it comes to the medical industry, and we have an aging population. What are we doing as a community to plan for the future, so that when I’m old or when my kids are having kids, that from the cradle to the grave we have things in place for our community that continue to keep Ketchikan a great place to live.

Morrison: What is something you’ve done during your time on the assembly that you are proud of?

Arntzen: Well, one of the things that is really close to my heart that we’re working on right now is an assembly code of conduct. That, to me, is not something that one person should be writing and bringing in and telling the group how it’s going to be. It’s something that I think needs to involve everybody so that there’s buy-in, and we can all subscribe to the same standards. We’re in the process of going through that now. I believe we’re going to have a work session at our next assembly meeting.

I’ve sponsored a few different resolutions and ordinances. One of the other ones that I did was the accessory dwelling unit program. So a couple years ago, there was a program in Juneau that gave grants to local property owners who added accessory dwelling units to their home, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough had received $7 million from the federal government that was leftover COVID money that they have kept aside to help address the housing issues. While they go through the process of deciding what is the best to do with that money, I asked for assembly support to have a $200,000 grant program where people can apply and get $14,000 from the borough once they add additional housing to their property. So that program has been relatively successful. I believe that at least 14 grants have been awarded. A couple have been redeemed, and the borough saw that the program was doing well enough that they actually added the line item into our FY27 budget once again, so there are another 14 grants that are available. I think it just kind of helps ease some of the pressure when people are trying to add housing, maybe for parents or for children or for guests or visitors who come, or even if they have a business and they need a place for workers to stay when they come. So I think knowing what I know about real estate, inventory is the big, best answer, and the most equitable answer to solving our housing crunch.

Morrison: Outside of your tenure on the assembly, what other community engagement or leadership experience makes you equipped for this role?

Arntzen: I think everything that we do sets us up for doing what we’re called in to do today. So I could go on and on about all of the different opportunities I’ve had to learn and grow in leadership positions, but just to touch on a couple smaller ones or more recent ones, I had the opportunity of going through the National Association of Counties (NACo) High Performance Leadership Academy last year. That was an incredible learning opportunity to help take some of the practical things that we do in our daily lives into our business world, or into our business planning, or into our service planning. Those skills translate across all areas of my life. I mean, I’m a mom. I run a household. I’ve got multiple small businesses, and one other thing that I’m very proud of for that I was asked to be a part of the Alaska Association of Realtors Professional Standards and Grievance Committee, and so we review cases against other real estate agents and determine if all the facts and information presented were to be true. [We ask,] ‘Would it constitute an ethics violation?’ So that’s one of the other leadership roles that I play is reviewing ethics violations. And then they asked me this year to apply to be a mediator for the state of Alaska. So I’m going in September to Chicago for a week-long training. Those kinds of opportunities that I have, I really try to apply to every area of my life. So, if Ketchikan re-elects me, I’m going to bring the same level of analysis that I try to bring to each situation, where I want to get as much information as I can about the situation, so that we can make the best decision possible for the most amount of people in Ketchikan.

Leadership happens every day, and I hope that everything that I do is going to apply to my role as a borough assembly member. So whether it’s analyzing ethics cases for the State of Alaska, or refereeing basketball games, or dealing with bickering teenagers, trying even to decide what we have for dinner — these are all decisions that can build confidence in what we’re doing at the table.

Morrison: What’s something you’d like listeners to know about you?

Arntzen: I don’t think that my service on the assembly is about me. I try to remember that I’m on a team when I’m on the assembly. There’s six other people that vote, and I want to work cooperatively with them because really we all have the same goal in mind, and that is what is in the best interest of Ketchikan.

The post Borough assembly member Sharli Arntzen files for reelection appeared first on KRBD.

A Ketchikan man is being charged with reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of an accident after an alleged hit-and-run with a tour bus Aug. 8.

Cameron Lacey, 37, was driving a dump truck on North Tongass Highway when he rear ended a double-decker bus and fled the scene, according to court documents. One passenger reported a neck injury, but declined medical attention. The officer on scene said they observed fluid leaking out of the bottom of the bus and damage on the driver’s side.

Lacey reportedly told a Ketchikan Police Officer when visiting his house later that day that his sister-in-law was in the truck with him during the accident. He said his wife took her to the emergency room. 

Lacey is being charged with Failure to Remain at the Scene of an Accident and failing to render assistance to the injured, which is a Class A Felony. He is also being charged with Reckless Endangerment, Reckless Driving, and No Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance.

Lacey’s attorney could not be immediately reached for comment. 

The post Man charged with leaving scene of an accident after crashing into Ketchikan tour bus appeared first on KRBD.

The City of Ketchikan has operated the local library for over 80 years. This October, voters will be given the opportunity to change that.

Earlier this spring, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough voted to dissolve its library funding agreement with the city, which includes a set borough contribution. That decision meant the city and the borough would have to negotiate a new contract by the end of the year. That work is now on pause.

A group of citizens submitted a petition last month to have the Ketchikan Gateway Borough take full ownership of the library. All borough voters will be able to vote on the measure in the Oct. 6 election. If it passes, it would also transfer responsibility of all operations and debt to the borough. 

Supporters of the measure, including petitioner Judith McQuerry, say this initiative aims to simplify funding and make it equal for all residents across the island who all have library access. 

“There has been ongoing controversy and disagreement over the funding and management between the borough and the city,” McQuerry said. “This ballot initiative serves to solve that problem by ensuring fair funding and governance community-wide.”

Both local governments are figuring out the implications of that. At a recent borough assembly meeting, Borough Attorney Glenn Brown said they are trying to plan ahead without being able to predict how events will unfold. 

“The challenge is there’s really nobody either in the borough or on the city side who is able to have anything other than kind of high level theoretical discussions at this point,” Brown told the assembly. 

If the ballot measure passes, the transfer of ownership would go into effect immediately. 

Right now, although all borough residents have access to the library, people across the island pay different amounts. City of Ketchikan residents pay the most for library services. It’s part of the city property taxes. The portion of those property taxes that go to the library equals about 1.4 mills. That means city residents pay about $140 annually for library services for every $100,000 of assessed property value. People who don’t live within city limits pay about $60 yearly per $100,000 of assessed property value, or a 0.6 mill levy. Residents of the nearby City of Saxman pay nothing. 

The votes of the measure will be tabulated in two groups. For the proposition to pass, there must be a majority of voters outside city limits who vote yes, and a separate majority of voters within the city limits of Ketchikan and Saxman. If it doesn’t pass in both groups, the measure fails. Brown expects that if the measure fails, borough staff will then work on renegotiating a new funding agreement with the city. If it passes, he says the biggest challenge is how the transfer of power will happen. 

It will be up to the city council to reduce property taxes in order to offset a new levy from the borough. At a Ketchikan City Council meeting earlier this month, the council directed staff to identify the portion of property taxes city residents pay that currently go towards library services to evaluate any additional levies that may be added to meet funding needs. The existing portion of the city’s levy that has been set aside for library contribution has been sufficient funding in recent years. 

Another problem brought up by both governments is the timeline. The borough and city operate on different fiscal years. The city’s fiscal year ends in December, while the borough’s ends in July. 

“We would need to have some discussions about how to maintain the operation during that period of time, when really no one right now has money budgeted to operate the library from January to June,” Brown said. “So nobody at staff level is able to offer that solution.”

For years, there’s been disagreement on island-wide library funding for various reasons.

Assembly member Bridget Mattson says she supports the library and wants it to be fully funded through a new agreement. She said she is not necessarily against the borough taking over library powers, but she worries this ballot measure is rushing things before anyone has time to responsibly plan. 

“I’m deeply, deeply concerned that the problem is that we don’t have a plan, but we will be voting on something that doesn’t have clear understanding to the public,” Mattson said. 

Library expenses have been on the rise in recent years. Most of those costs are staffing, and library director Pat Tully has said it’s the consequences of rising costs of operations. 

Assembly member Rodney Dial has said the only reason library funding is being discussed is because the library needs to limit spending. He said the rise in increasing library expenses is more than just keeping up with inflation. 

“We’re paying for it,” Dial said. “We’re trying to say we need to keep those expenses in line with inflation, or we’re going to have tax increase after tax increase.”

He expressed concern that if this passes, everyone’s property taxes would increase.

“We’re trying to protect the people that say they can’t afford groceries, they can’t afford health care, they can’t afford rent,” Dial said. 

According to a memo from borough staff about the proposal, an island-wide levy necessary to support library operations would equal a 100% increase in property taxes for people living outside city limits, going from the current 0.6 to 1.2 mills. It would tack on a brand new levy for Saxman residents, who currently have no library contribution. If nothing else changes, Ketchikan residents would be paying the island-wide levy from the borough on top of the existing levy to the city — so unless and until the city council repeals the existing levy, Ketchikan residents could be paying twice. 

This isn’t the first time there was a measure on the ballot challenging areawide power. Four years ago, there was a ballot proposition to repeal the borough’s nonareawide library powers and defund the library. It failed.

Both the borough assembly and the city council decided to take no action until election results are finalized in October. Whether the proposition passes or not, both governments will have to work quickly to make financial and logistical decisions before the end of the calendar year to avoid a funding gap for the library. 

The borough has already issued the notice to terminate the current funding agreement with the city, effective Dec. 31. 

The Ketchikan City Council meets this Thursday for a regular meeting. A work session regarding library powers is on the agenda.

The post Ketchikan’s local governments weigh library powers ballot measure appeared first on KRBD.