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Anchorage Turns to Targeted Levies and Transfers as Other Cities Manage Cash Shortfalls
Anchorage's recent resolutions and ballot measures address road work and software upgrades while the city confronts a negative fund balance, an approach seen in municipalities facing similar limits on one-off spending.
How we reported this
The Municipality of Anchorage approved Resolution AR 2025-358 to allocate up to $65,000 from federal STBG funding for AMATS W. 32nd Avenue upgrades in the Roads and Drainage Service Area. Resolution AR 2025-359 appropriates up to $1.175 million in total transfers from the Areawide General Fund and Building Safety Fund to finance new permit software for the Development Services Department.
Ballot measures set for spring vote
Ordinance AO 2025-138 proposes a ballot proposition for the April 7, 2026 election to authorize a 2.25-mill levy in the Bear Valley Limited Road Service Area specifically for road maintenance and snow plowing. Ordinance AO 2025-133 submits a ballot proposition to authorize a 3% sales and use tax with portions directed to property-tax relief, public safety and infrastructure, and childcare and housing, while permitting borrowing from the MOA Trust Fund for start-up costs.
These steps come as Anchorage's local government faces a cash flow constraint with a negative fund balance that limits its ability to cover non-emergency, one-off funding requests despite holding $52.8 million in audited cash at the end of 2022. City documents list the cash figure from the 2022 audit and note the restriction on discretionary outlays.
Local priorities in context
Funding for W. 32nd Avenue upgrades draws on federal surface transportation block grant dollars already earmarked for the area. The permit software purchase uses internal fund transfers rather than new external borrowing. Bear Valley residents would see the proposed mill levy appear on the April 2026 ballot, while the sales tax measure would apply areawide if approved.
Other cities with constrained cash positions have similarly routed one-time federal grants to street projects and shifted internal reserves to technology upgrades before seeking voter approval for ongoing levies. Anchorage's sequence keeps the immediate outlays under existing appropriations and places longer-term revenue tools before voters at the April 7, 2026 election.
The measures now move through the assembly process, with the two ballot propositions scheduled for the spring vote and the software and road allocations available once transfers are executed.