Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance is warning residents to brace for a “steep fiscal cliff” next year, while simultaneously offering a proposed operating budget that maintains unsustainable spending levels and includes increases for controversial equity and inclusion efforts.
LaFrance released her initial 2027 budget earlier this month, freely admitting that her $692.5 million proposal is unsustainable due to rising costs for labor, fuel and heating, health care, and building materials, as well as diminished revenue from alcohol and marijuana taxes and reduced support from the state.
Nevertheless, LaFrance is asking the Anchorage Assembly to approve an operating budget that is nearly $27 million higher than last year.
“That doesn’t mean we didn’t have to make cuts this year,” she explained in her budget introduction. “We eliminated positions, created operational efficiencies to reduce reliance on contractual services, and used one-time funding to fill remaining budget gaps.”
Among her proposed increases, LaFrance wants to spend more money on the city’s Equity & Inclusion department, which promotes initiatives aimed at providing preferential treatment to people based on their race, LGBTQ sexuality and immigration status.
LaFrance proposes raising the Equity & Inclusion budget from $438,057 to $449,072, a 2.5% jump. This includes $388,066 in salaries and benefits for just two employees.
The Equity & Inclusion office operates under the basic ideology embedded in Critical Race Theory, which claims that Americans are fundamentally racist, even if unconsciously so.
Anchorage’s Equity & Inclusion office claims to “proactively work to advance equity” and focus on “eliminating” so-called “systemic inequities.” This includes DEI training for city employees, auditing boards and commissions for potential DEI violations, promoting residents who claim to have an LGBTQ sexual identity, and offering preferential services and opportunities to those deemed to be “marginalized.”
LaFrance noted that the city will need about $30 million more in new revenue by next year. That may mean attempting to increase property taxes, which represent the largest source of money for the city budget.
Additionally, the Equity and Inclusion budget sets and monitors “equity benchmarks” and tracks “systemic disparities.” It also pushes “equitable climate action” and “racial equity work.”
The proposed Equity & Inclusion expenses represent only a fraction of the larger overall budget, but it provides insight into how the LaFrance administration determines “core services,” which cannot be cut.
“While this proposed budget protects core services without major cuts, we will face difficult decisions during the next budget cycle,” LaFrance explained in releasing her budget. “Along with some cuts, we used $12 million in one-time funds to close a budget shortfall for next year. That funding is a stopgap — we will reach a steep fiscal cliff in the 2028 budget cycle.”
In attempting to justify her proposal, LaFrance noted that the city is entering 2027 with a gap of nearly $15 million. It plans to close that hole by cutting about $1 million in vacant positions and by using roughly $12 million in one-time money, including funds left from the old Municipal Light & Power account.
“We’ve busted open our piggy banks and bought ourselves one more year,” LaFrance said during an Oct. 2 press conference. “The cliff is just about here, and we don’t have any more runway.”
LaFrance noted that the city will need about $30 million more in new revenue by next year. That may mean attempting to increase property taxes, which represent the largest source of money for the city budget.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
By next year, LaFrance said, talk of service cuts will no longer be hypothetical, and her administration is proposing to institute shorter hours or closures at libraries and pools, fewer specialty units at the Anchorage Police Department, and less road maintenance.
Whether residents agree that cutting libraries, pools, police units, and road maintenance, while simultaneously expanding ideologically-driven equity programs, is a good idea remains to be seen.
LaFrance concluded the introduction to her budget by claiming it shows her “commitment to delivering quality and efficient municipal services to residents while building a safer, more affordable and thriving community for everyone.”
“We welcome your questions and encourage you to participate in the budgeting process, and we look forward to discussing our fiscal future together in the months ahead,” she wrote. “As always, it is an honor to serve as your mayor.”
