On Monday, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly held its first deliberation on the Fiscal Year 2016 budget. Nine amendments were accepted on Monday, but requests for more information from the Assembly mean there will be at least one additional meeting on Wednesday.
The budget that Mat-Su Borough Manager John Moosey submitted to the borough assembly last month was about $4 million smaller than the budget for the current fiscal year. On Monday, assembly members added some items back in that had initially been left out.
Nine amendments were passed by the assembly on Monday. The Mat-Su Borough School District was appropriated an additional $1.3 million, which is slightly less than the increase it requested. Assembly Member Vern Halter moved to have the borough’s minimum reserve amount lowered to $25 million, which would free up the necessary funds for the increased school appropriation.
Block grants for cities were re-established at a total level of $106,000. Youth Court was funded at a level of $150,000, as was the Valley’s Sexual Assault Response Team. A handful of staffing reshuffles in Mat-Su Central Fire Service Area, as well as the creation of two new positions were also approved.
The issue that the assembly could not come to a final decision on was additional paramedics and EMTs for the borough ambulance service. Assembly Member Dan Mayfield carried an amendment to add eight new positions. Questions about expenditures, ambulance fees, and other issues led the assembly to continue the discussion Wednesday.
More amendments could still be brought, and a final mill levy has not been set.
