The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly introduced the borough and the school district’s budgets Monday.
The Ketchikan School District budget totals $41.8 million. The School Board had requested $7.6 million in local funding. However, that didn’t include about $800,000 in expenses that the district has paid for in the past, such as building insurance, snow removal and contracted services.
Borough officials estimate those items would bring the local contribution up to nearly $8.4 million. The Assembly told the district before the budget process started that it would provide $7.75 million.
The ordinance introducing the district budget Monday includes a stipulation that any local contribution above the minimum required by state law depends on the district paying for the contractual and in-kind services. The minimum required local funding is about $4.2 million.
There wasn’t much discussion by the Assembly before the members unanimously approved the district budget in first reading. Assembly Member Glen Thompson was the only one to comment, and he just had a request.
“I don’t want to get too far into the weeds on this subject tonight, but I would like if staff could at our next meeting, draft a version of this ordinance in such a way that should the Assembly decide to change the amount of the funding … that we would know what blanks to fill in to adopt the changes, ” he said.
Also Monday, the Assembly adopted a motion establishing a $1 per day fee for parking on the town side of the airport ferry. The borough intends to start charging for parking in the previously free lot this summer.
