The Mat-Su Borough Assembly has delayed a decision on whether to tax plastic shopping bags until December. KTNA’s Phillip Manning followed the meeting and has this story:
On Tuesday, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly voted to push back a decision on whether or not to apply a ten cent excise tax to single-use plastic shopping bags.
The proposal is the result of work done by the plastic bag committee of the Mat-Su Borough Zero Waste Coalition. Multiple committee members attended Tuesday’s meeting and stressed the need to reduce the number of plastic bags in circulation in the borough. Committee member Patty Fisher says she saw significant support for a measure to cut down on bags while speaking to various communities.
“I want to stress that our takeaway from the campaign is that the majority of residents of the Mat-Su Borough recognize the hazards of plastic bags to our environment, to our wildlife, and to our own food chain.”
When Fisher attended the Talkeetna Community Council meeting earlier this summer, she brought visual aids to illustrate both the unsightliness and potential hazards of plastic bags. She told stories of how both wild and domestic animals had been killed by ingesting the bags while grazing.
The majority of speakers at the assembly meeting spoke in favor of some means of cutting down on plastic shopping bags, even if they didn’t see an excise tax as the appropriate method to do so. Charles Miller says something needs to be done, but sees the excise tax as “ludicrous.”
“I don’t see ten cents a bag eliminating the problem. Who’s going to care? Will you care if they charge you ten cents a bag? No. Eliminate the bags. ‘We can’t do that,’ the lawyer says. Ok, bump it up to the state.”
Borough Attorney Nicholas Spiropoulos did say that the Mat-Su, as a second-class borough, does not have the authority to ban the use of plastic bags outright. The cities of Palmer, Wasilla, and Houston, however, could do so on their own.
Assembly Member Barbara Doty is sponsoring the ordinance. She acknowledges that there are still things to be found out, but also cautions against inaction.
“We don’t know the answer to these questions—a lot of questions have been raised. Our other choice is just to sit on our hands and do nothing, which is what we have been doing. In my mind, it’s a chance to have a conversation about the health and wellbeing of our community and our education of our children about being responsible.”
Assembly Member George McKee sides with those who dislike plastic bags, but doesn’t believe a ten-cent tax will solve the problem.
“If you want to say there’s a $2.50 a bag excise tax, you will make change. Anything less than that, you are not going to.”
Assembly Member Randall Kowalke says he hates plastic bags, but is not in favor of a tax to reduce their use.
“I’m not keen at looking over at a fence, and seeing a bag stuck to the fence, and saying, ‘Gee, I feel better about this because some fool paid ten cents for it.’”
Wasilla Mayor Bert Cottle asked the assembly in a letter to delay its final decision on the tax while the cities hold their own discussions and forums on how to reduce plastic bag usage. Ultimately, the assembly granted that request, voting 5-1 to postpone a vote on the ordinance until December 5th.
