Borough working with Talkeetna to bring Sewer and Water operating back in black

Borough Manager John Moosey, Assistant Manager George Haze, and Assembly member Vern Halter attended the most recent weekly meeting of the Talkeetna Water and Sewer board on Wednesday. Moosey wanted to emphasize better communication between the Borough and the Water Board on what steps to take to prevent a continued operating budget deficit.

Moosey addressed four action items he had undertaken at a Water and Sewer Board meeting he attended in August. Moosey said that he will ask the Assembly to ad capital projects for necessary repairs to the system to the priority list for State of Alaska grant funding. he also made a commitment to pursue and increase of revenue for the system without creating undue burden on the paying customers of the utility. He outlined plans to compare Talkeetna’s water and sewer utilities to those of three comparable communities, to see what is happening in other places that might be useful at this northern end of the borough. Moosey’s fourth charge was to investigate the possibility of generating revenue through summer visitor base, which is what the bed tax essentially is, however there are legal restraints that prevent the bed tax from being used for the water and sewer utility. Moosey mentioned the idea of a seasonal sales tax, which would require the support of the business community in Talkeetna.