Voters in Petersburg, Juneau, Haines and Skagway decided several sales tax and property tax measures in last week’s municipal elections, approving an assortment of tax exemptions, along with higher sales taxes during summer months.

In Petersburg, voters amended the community’s sales tax exemption for senior citizens to apply only to low-income residents. The change passed on a tight 633-624 margin in the Oct. 7 election.

It was the highest turnout since voters approved forming a borough in 2012.

The change will limit the no-tax program to only those residents who qualify for the state’s senior benefits program — which has an annual income cap of $34,213 for individuals and $46,253 for married couples.

The borough estimates the current senior exemption from the 6% sales tax — without any income limit — costs about $400,000 annually in lost revenue, according to Petersburg Pilot reporting.

Officials said the change is necessary as the borough faces mounting costs while revenue streams are in decline. Petersburg’s senior population has grown from 6% in 1980 when the exemption began to around 25% this year.

Previous efforts in 2014 and 2018 to limit the no-tax benefit for Petersburg seniors failed. In 2018, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to limit the exemption 777-295. In 2014, a measure to limit the senior exemption to only food and fuel failed 754-253.

Voters in Haines by a slim margin approved a ballot proposition to impose a higher sales tax rate April through September in return for a lower rate the rest of the year.

The measure was ahead 562-515, with a few dozen early and questioned ballots still to count as of Monday, Oct. 13, but not enough to change the outcome.

The borough estimates that the shift to a higher tax rate during the months of more tourism and other economic activity could generate an additional $280,000 a year for the municipal treasury.

Within the townsite — the old city limits of Haines — the sales tax rate will increase to 7% from 5.5% for the spring and summer, dropping to 4.5% the rest of the year. The additional revenue from the higher rate during the heavier sales activity months will go toward “supporting the school as well as the services provided in the townsite service area,” according to the ballot measure.

Outside the old city limits, across the rest of the Haines borough, the tax rate will increase to 5% from 4% April through September, dropping to 3% the rest of the year.

Under the ballot measure, groceries will be exempted from sales tax October through March.

In Skagway, voters rejected an increase in the community’s seasonal sales tax. The measure, which failed 163-264, would have increased to 7% from 5% the tax rate April through September. It would not have changed the 3% rate that is in effect the rest of the year.

Some of the additional revenue from adding 2% to the tax rate during the busier spring and summer months in the tourism-heavy town would have gone to reducing local rates for water, wastewater and garbage services.

In Juneau, a citizens initiative to reduce property taxes appears headed toward passage. The measure, ahead 5,002 to 4,807, would lower the municipal property tax cap from 12 mills down to 9 mills.

The current tax rate is 10.24 mills, or $1,024 a year on every $100,000 in a property’s assessed value.

Municipal officials said the tax-limiting proposition could create problems if the borough needs additional funds to deal with emergencies or other unexpected expenses.

Juneau voters also showed they were in a tax-cutting mood when they approved a second citizens initiative, this one to exempt food and utilities from the community’s 5% sales tax.

That measure was ahead 6,842-2,995.

An advocacy group, the Affordable Juneau Coalition, gathered enough signatures this spring and summer to place the property tax cap and sales tax exemptions measures on the ballot.

Municipal officials reported the tax exemption for food and utilities will cost the treasury about $9 million to $11 million a year in lost revenue.

“I actually think this is probably the most consequential election we’ve had locally in the 15 years I’ve been here in Juneau,” Christine Woll is a longtime Juneau assembly member and chair of its finance committee, told public radio station KTOO last month.

“Each of these (ballot measures) will have a big impact on the city’s budget and ability to fund services in our community,” Woll said.

A seasonal sales tax in Juneau is headed to defeat, 4,174-5,681. It would have raised an additional $11.5 million a year by boosting the tax rate during the community’s heavy tourism months.

The measure would have replaced Juneau’s year-round 5% tax with a 3% tax October through March and a 7.5% rate April through September.

The assembly decided to put the seasonal tax rate on the ballot, looking for new revenue to offset the losses if the property tax cap and sales tax exemption initiatives won voter approval.