Issues - Chris Birch for Assembly


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		Issues The Anchorage Assembly plays a tremendous role in the responsible growth and development of our community. My top priorities are: Tax Relief - The economic uncertainty brought on by an unstable and increasing tax structure has had a negative impact on our community's economy. We need to diversify our tax base and reduce the cost of government where possible through managed competition and with increased attention to labor contract negotiations. Transportation - As a relatively young State with critical transportation requirements we need to focus closely on our ability to construct and maintain the roads and aviation facilities necessary to enable our economic potential. As an engineer I will continue my focus on developing our community responsibly with the roads, drainage, and infrastructure necessary to accommodate growth. Title 21 - Our city's ability to responsibly address current levels of population growth and development are detailed in city code. Timely decisions on planning and zoning issues are necessary to effectively facilitate new construction in our community. As with the sign ordinance, the Assembly needs to carefully consider the impact that proposed code revisions will have on community residents. I intend to closely monitor the proposed development of Title 21 to insure we recognize and protect private property rights. Transparency - Advocated successfully for improved public access to assembly meetings and meeting records. Chris supports continued on-line teleconferencing options with streaming video of assembly meetings and the recognition that we need a citizen legislative body - not professional politicians representing us. I'd like to hear from you. What are your community issues? Send me an email or give me a call at 346.3265. In the News Chris spent an hour on the Dave Stieren radio show where he discussed local issues, community concerns, plans and priorities and what's ahead on the Anchorage Assembly. Click to listen to (part 1), (part 2), (part 3) of the interview. Let voters decide on tax cap, Anchorage Daily News Letter to the Editor One has to wonder how a majority on the Assembly view Anchorage voters. Apparently, we're qualified to provide them with input about whether citizens should have to provide ID for every alcohol purchase, but not when it comes to the tax cap. Assembly members Mike Gutierrez and Harriet Drummond even went so far to say they didn't want to burden us voters with an issue as complex as the tax cap. I'd like these members to know that we're actually a pretty smart group of people and would have welcomed the opportunity to clarify how our property taxes are calculated. I can assure them that we'll certainly be savvy enough to remember their disregard of voters' thoughts and opinions when they're up for re-election this April. -- Tony Cange Anchorage Tax cap protection worthy of vote, by Mayor Dan Sullivan Last week, a majority on the Anchorage Assembly voted not to allow voters to weigh in on how the Municipality of Anchorage calculates the tax cap. South Anchorage member Chris Birch put forth a proposal called the Taxpayer Protection Act (that I supported) that would ask local voters to decide in April whether to enshrine tax cap protections in the city charter, which is like the city?s constitution. Surprisingly, six of the 11 members decided that the matter was not important enough to send to voters and killed the effort. more... Anchorage Assembly rejects tax cap ballot issue The Anchorage Assembly rejected a ballot proposal that would have amended the city charter to clarify the tax cap, which limits the increase of city taxes from one year to the next. The Anchorage Daily News reports the proposal failed at Tuesday night's meeting. more... Selective advice The Anchorage Assembly has decided it will not allow you to vote April 5 on a charter amendment that would clarify the tax cap, set by formula, that limits the amount of city tax increases. The vote, unsurprisingly, was 6-5. Assembly member Chris Birch had wanted to amend the charter to say the base amount for calculating the next year's taxes should be the amount of taxes collected in the current year. Apparently former Mayor Mark Begich plugged in state revenue-sharing money to reduce taxes but did not bother to lower the tax cap in the process. more... Proposal clarifies base for figuring tax cap, by Chris Birch Next week my colleagues on the Assembly and I will vote on whether my proposal to clarify how the local tax cap is calculated will appear on April's ballot. I believe the "Taxpayer Protection Act," as it has become known, is the responsible thing to do because it prevents our local government from dramatically increasing property taxes from one year to the next. Some will say, "Wait, isn't that what the municipal tax cap is supposed to do?" The answer to that question is an emphatic "Yes!" When the tax cap was approved by voters in 1983, it was designed to limit the amount the city could extract from taxpayers in a given year. more... Assembly Vote Close on Airport Future, by Chris Birch Anchorage is the "Air Crossroads of the World." This slogan is emblazoned on our Chamber of Commerce literature, on signs welcoming visitors and even at the Milepost in front of the Log Cabin downtown. At the center of that envious designation is the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport: famous for the worlds busiest float-plane base and cargo hubs for FedEx and UPS. more... Eminent domain plan provides balance, by Chris Birch The Anchorage Assembly is considering an ordinance that would place additional restrictions on the ability of the municipality to condemn private property for leisure or recreational purposes through an eminent domain proceeding. Eminent domain is the power of the government, under the federal and state constitutions, to condemn private land for a public use after paying "just compensation." This ordinance would prevent the municipality from taking private lands for leisure or recreational purposes except under exceptional circumstances. Under such circumstances, a majority of the Assembly could make a special exception and vote to waive the ordinance to allow the taking of a specific private property for a compelling public recreational use. more... Paid for by Chris Birch for Assembly, 9138 Arlon Street, Suite A3-143 Anchorage, AK 99507-9138 © 2011 All rights reserved Contact chrisbirch@gci.net for more information