As Anchorage Assembly members continue to spar over what to do with $10.5 million in state capital funding from last year, the city is getting ready to send next year's funding request down to Juneau in the lead-up to the Legislature convening in January with an eye toward saving money after new, dramatically lower state revenue projections were released Wednesday.
Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan released his state capital budget request on Wednesday, one day after previewing the numbers with area lawmakers. All told, Anchorage will be asking the state for $652 million for next year. The list is 86 pages long and includes funding requests for everything from street maintenance to upgrades to the Egan Center and Dempsey Anderson Ice Arena and the construction of a midtown transit facility.
Among the projects for which the city is requesting funding:
• $250 million for the Port of Anchorage expansion project
• $10 million for upgrades and repairs to the Z.J. Loussac Public Library
• $12.2 million for the Chester Creek Complex project, which would relocate Mulcahy Stadium and reorient the parking lot
• $25 million for a new Department of Health and Human Services building, the largest department in Municipal government
• $12.5 million to improve and repair Spenard Road
But even city officials don't think they will get everything on their wish list.
At the top of the list -- for the second year running -- is a request for $250 million to upgrade and repair the Port of Anchorage. That project -- currently stalled after years of work -- has been marred by faulty construction work and cost overruns. The original $271 million cost for the 6,000-foot expansion has ballooned to over $1 billion. After the former project manager bailed out of the project earlier this year, Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan began looking for a new project management team.
At a press conference at City Hall on Wednesday, Mayor Sullivan said he expects to name the new managers next week.
But Sullivan also said he doesn't expect to get the $250 million for the port in the state capital budget request, even though it is the first item on Anchorage's list.
"It (the request) is basically a place-holder, as we figure out where the project is going and how we are going to finance it," Sullivan said.
The mayor's Legislative Director Shalon Harrington explained why the money is being asked for, even though administration officials won't be pushing for it.
"We want to be sure people don't forget about the project," Harrington said. By putting the port money at the top of the list, lawmakers will be sure to see it. "It's a conversation starter," Harrington said.
Also on the list: $10 million to repair and upgrade the Loussac Library -- the centerpiece of Anchorage's library system. The Loussac, built in 1986, is showing its age. The exterior is crumbling and the building needs significant upgrades to its wiring and Internet capacity. If legislators approve the request, the funds would pay to revamp the building's decaying and confusing front entrance, as well as some technology upgrades -- including a new radio frequency identification chip system that would allow patrons to check out their own books.
The $10 million request was also made last year, but was not included in the final state capital budget when it was passed by lawmakers in the waning days of the legislative session in April. The project is sorely needed, according to city librarians. So why wasn't it added last year?
"This project needs a champion in the Legislature," Harrington said.
Harrington said the city and the Anchorage Public Library system are working with state lawmakers -- who were briefed on the budget requests on Tuesday -- to make sure the Loussac money gets through the budget process this time around.
The city asked for $696 million last year and got more than $105 million. That's just 4.7 percent of the total Alaska 2013 capital budget of $2.3 billion, but is the most, by far, of any of the state's cities. Anchorage makes up more than a third of the state's overall population.
"Anchorage is pretty well taken care of, when you look at other Alaska cities," Harrington said.
Contact Sean Doogan at sean(at)alaskadispatch.com