Anchorage Tomorrow

Anchorage Tomorrow, Inc.is a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation organized to “encourage and promote the creation, maintenance, expansion, and staffing of municipal facilities for the citizens of the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska”. We are supported by engineers, architects, contractors, sports groups, environmental groups, park users, library supporters, interested citizens and members of the community.

Anchorage is a young and growing community that needs to pass the 2010 bond package to keep up with our community’s growing infrastructure needs. Anchorage can afford these bonds because:

Anchorage tax levels are low compared to most U.S cities. A 2008 study of tax rates and burdens ranked Anchorage 1st of 10 cities having the lowest overall tax burden of 3.6% compared to a national average of 8.5% (income, property, sales, auto). Anchorage’s average household tax burden is less than half of the national average for top U.S. cities.

The Municipality is scheduled to pay off almost $28.4 million worth of existing General Obligation (GO) bonds in 2010, which equates to almost 73 percent of the proposed 2010 GO bond amount of $ 39.1 million.  The net increase in annual debt service is estimated at $ 3.1 million, which equates to approximately $3.11/month for an assessed property value of $300,000.

The Municipality's proposed ballot proposition debt is within the debt burden range associated with AA rated credit, which is the Municipality's rating from both Standard and Poor's and Fitch Ratings.

Moreover, Anchorage Tomorrow believes this year’s “package” for roads and public transportation provides a unique nexus of stimulus and opportunity for Anchorage residents because:

“Shovel-ready” - Much of the emphasis regarding the Federal stimulus package has focused on putting these funds immediately to work in wages and salaries. More than 90 percent of this year’s proposed bonds would be used to fund construction contracts in 2010 that would flow directly into Anchorage’s workforce.

Leveraging existing grants - There is virtually a dollar-for-dollar match of proposed bonds to existing grants. Thus these bonds have an immediate 100 percent “multiplier effect” in doubling their stimulus impact.

Attracting new grants - Recognizing the challenges associated with attracting State and Federal grants in the current economy, the Municipality would place itself in the strongest possible position to pursue these scarce funds by committing local matches to these soft monies. Our bond propositions are matched almost “dollar-for-dollar” with grant requests and thus offer the promise of additional stimulus from external funding sources.

Sustaining economic vitality - In addition to the short-term stimulus to our local economy generated by the construction contracts that would be funded by these bonds, the upgrades to Anchorage’s transportation system would make general transportation and the delivery of goods and services more efficient and cost-effective.