The property tax mill levy — the rate that is multiplied against a property’s assessed value to determine the annual tax bill — will remain the same this year. It’s the fifth year in a row without a change in the tax rate.

The assembly voted unanimously on May 12 to set the levy at 9.75 mills, which is $975 per $100,000 in assessed value.

Property tax revenues, projected at $2.428 million for the fiscal year that starts July 1, are the second-largest income for the borough’s general fund. Sales tax revenues, at close to $3.8 million this year, take the top spot.

The assessed value of privately owned residential and commercial land and buildings in Wrangell totals $260 million, about the same as last year.

Property owned by governments, churches and tribal entities are not taxed.

And the first $150,000 in value of a senior citizen’s primary home is exempt from property taxes under state law. The exemption removed about $44 million from Wrangell’s tax rolls this year, an increase from last year’s $41 million as the community’s population trends older.

The 9.75 tax rate applies to more than 90% of the 2,000 taxable properties in the borough, which are assessed at $238 million.

The $13 million worth of properties outside the reach of borough services such as utilities is taxed at a much lower rate, just 4 mills, which also has not changed in years.

Property taxes are due at City Hall by Oct. 15. Unpaid property taxes will accrue interest and penalties.

In a change for this year, however, properties in the small community of Meyers Chuck, with a year-round population of about 25 people, will be taxed at the rate of 6 mills in a new classification called “qualified service tax zone.”

Wrangell included Meyers Chuck when the City of Wrangell expanded to become the City and Borough of Wrangell in 2008. The borough last year completed construction of a new $1.5 million 400-foot-long floating dock in Meyers Chuck, funded mostly with a state grant.

The remote Cleveland Peninsula community, about 50 miles south of Wrangell, is a popular stopover for boaters, particularly yachts, traveling between Ketchikan and Wrangell.

The borough does not collect fees from dock users; there is no staff in Meyers Chuck to administer the fee or manage the dock.

Mayor Patty Gilbert, who was not at the May 12 assembly meeting, said in an interview later in the week that the borough spending on the new dock “played into the decision” to create a new property tax zone for Meyers Chuck.

The new rate tax — 6 mills rather than 4 mills — will raise about $16,000 a year for the borough.