u/gooneau

Man, where to even start with this one.

First, she repeatedly implies CBJ, and the public that has recently testified about proposed budget cuts, are not taking seriously the flood threat, which is insane and downright insulting.

Next, she goes on to say we need to vote on a general obligation bond to address the flood issue. What she fails to acknowledge is the same wealthy retired magas that make up affordable Juneau would proceed to raise absolute hell if their own personal pet solution to the flood isn't identified in the bond proposal. Those folks seem particularly keen on the idea of building a levee around Mendenhall lake, but that doesn't appear to be what the actual qualified experts are leaning towards.

Forcing every major financial decision by CBJ to appear as a GO bond on the annual ballot is a terrible way to govern, especially in the case of emergency response to a poorly understood threat. Not only does it pigeonhole major decisions about a fluid situation into a slow yearly cycle, it turns serious decisions that should be considered operational into politics. What happens when a few business owners who thought they would make millions trucking a levee worth of material to the lake get upset CBJ is moving forward with a lake-tap, and spend thousands on ad campaigns to vote no on the bond? Then what, angela? Just cross our fingers until the next vote and hope something happens then?

This is the facebookification of local governance. I guess I shouldn't be surprised a bunch of old magas are aroused by that idea. Rodell couldn't get elected to the assembly, so instead turned CBJ decisions into something her and her buddies can throw money at to influence outcomes.

How anyone like Adam Crum is still even considered a viable candidate for governor is beyond me. Every single thing that comes out about the guy demonstrates he's incompetent, corrupt, and completely undeserving of the public trust. Vote for him if you like cronyism, I guess.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE teaching people how to hunt and I feel like it's the responsibility of every hunter to recruit more into the sport. I live in Alaska, born and raised, mostly hunt blacktails but also waterfowl and blue grouse. Usually involving ocean boat travel and covering ground in remote backcountry with lots of hazards including tons of brown bears, so there is little room for error or lack of preparation. 

When I was younger, I was usually hunting with other people who knew how to do everything. These days if I'm not hunting solo, I've usually got a friend or my partner in tow, who are no strangers to outdoorsmanship by any means, but don't really have the hunting or off-trail travel aspects down. 

I've been finding the mental burden of bringing less experienced people along to be increasingly noticeable. When I do get a chance to hunt with someone 100% comfortable and experienced hunting here, it's crazy how...easy and relaxing it all feels. It's not even the shooting/processing/pack out part. It's everything else. I'm constantly having to micromanage everything from what they pack to what they wear. Some of it is understandable, but some things are frustrating, like dude we're hunting from a boat, yes you need rubber boots, just like the last five times. Your phone is dead AND you don't have a compass? Well I guess we're sticking together all day so you don't get lost. Bro we talked about this last time, you don't need camo but your solid white shirt is not going to cut it. I have to monitor the forecast, the tides, pick the spots to hunt, plan backup locations, keep track of the time and judge when we need to turn back or stop hunting to beat sunset, I have to pack and fuel and launch and operate the boat, I'm anchoring and rowing back to shore while they sit on a log, just everything and it can be exhausting. They really don't appreciate the luxury of just showing up at the harbor at a given time then hopping off the boat to hunt. Not that they are ungrateful or shitty about it, they just don't know, I think. I feel like that's a shift in hunting culture. When I was younger, people new to hunting seemed more eager to learn and become independent.

I don't know what the point of this post is. Maybe just to vent, or if anyone has any advice I'm all ears. Or if you're that less experienced person tagging along with a friend, maybe learn from my diatribe. Your friend probably put a LOT more work, money, planning, and mental energy into the hunt than you realize. All they ask is you pay attention, try to improve, and on the next round, maybe come more prepared or ready to pitch in where you can. Read and watch videos. Learn to use navigation apps and research the forecast. Know when sunset is. Know the names of geographic features where you'll be hunting. Show up five minutes early. If hunting is something you're serious about, you should be diligently working towards the point where you are letting your friend know what time to be somewhere to tag along for a hunt YOU planned.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2917-Blueberry-Hills-Rd-S-Juneau-AK-99801/74504866_zpid/

This is today's example. Home is listed for 1.19 million dollars. Their tax assessment is 731k. Last week it was a home on mendenhall peninsula, listed for 1.5M, assessed at 850k.

This is the case for 90+% of homes you see come on the market for luxury prices, at least for the over a decade I have been paying close attention. They typically are underassessed by several hundred thousand dollars. That slack is picked up by other property tax payers, and when you look at the kind of homes that the majority of juneauites live in, like condos, townhouses, and small SFHs, their assessments are usually very close to their actual value. Commercial property is also almost always severely underassessed, sometimes by multiple millions, as we recently saw with the downtown lot by the plaza.

Many misunderstand the purpose of assessments. It isn't how property tax revenue is set, raised, or lowered. It's how property tax bills are fairly distributed based on relative value of the property you own. Alaska Statute § 29.45.110 and CBJ Municipal Code Title 69.10.020 REQUIRE that property tax owed be proportional to the "full and true value" of that property. The mill rate is how the city sets the amount of revenue to pull from property taxes. Doing so through assessments is plainly ILLEGAL.

When we have several thousand wealthy luxury homeowners and commercial property owners underpaying property tax to the tune of several thousand dollars apiece, that means the mill rate has to remain artificially high, because the total value of property in the city is underassessed. If these properties were simply assessed at fair market value, the mill rate could be lowered significantly, saving those poor young families affordable juneau claims to represent real money without requiring a single cut to services.

In 2021 CBJ required sale price disclosure for homes. The wealthy instantly flew into a rage, and got their local realtor cartel to spearhead a campaign to overturn it. They claimed it was about privacy. It was entirely about the above, hiding the fact the wealthy in this town have been laughing their way to the bank when it comes to property taxes. Juneauites should be enraged, we're being stolen from every single day by the same assholes behind affordable juneau. How (what at least used to be) a progressive, highly educated, public sector town has allowed itself to be led around by the nose by a bunch of retired MAGA dorks with nothing better to do than Smaug over their gold, is beyond me. Wake the fuck up Juneau and vote.

This entire opinion piece is filled with bullshit that I'm not going to go through line by line, but one of my favorites is "When you add up groceries, lights, heat, water, sewer and electricity, it is quite easy to spend $20,000 to $30,000 a year on these basics for an average family. For someone of limited means, $1,000 or $1,500 is a very significant sum."

What could a banana cost michael, ten dollars?! Dave, let me break this down for you. If you are someone of limited means, you are NOT spending $20,000-$30,000 per year on those bills. Before anyone asks, yes, dave lives in a house assessed far under what it is actually worth. Young families and those of limited means are, and have been, picking up the tab for Dave underpaying property taxes on his waterfront home assessed at 530k.

All these pricks got wealthy from long careers in a healthy PUBLIC SECTOR LOCAL ECONOMY. Now, because their fragile egos can't accept that fact, they want to play reaganomics and shit all over everything they owe their wealth to, now that it's time to be retired.