Big Lake took yet another step toward becoming a city this week.
A final report issued Friday by staffers at the Alaska Local Boundary Commission recommends Big Lake become a second-class city if voters approve the same road taxes they pay now.
The report also supports a separate petition by the city of Houston to add almost 2½ square miles to the nearly 23 the city now covers.
The recommendations largely echo those listed in a preliminary finding released in December.
Public comment will be taken on the Big Lake finding through March 27.
The five-member boundary commission is responsible for establishing and modifying proposed municipal government boundaries.
Big Lake incorporation backers say becoming a city will give them local authority over road taxes residents now pay to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Boundary commission staffers are recommending approval of their petition, but only if local voters approve a taxing mill rate of 2.57, or $2.57 for every $1,000 in assessed property value. That's the same rate they pay now.
City supporters also want more say over everything from local traffic patterns and parks to big projects such as a railroad extension from Port MacKenzie.
The preliminary report agreed that the borough couldn't meet Big Lake's local government needs.
The one significant difference between the commission's final report and the preliminary one is the size of the city that staffers support. That grew from 68 to nearly 77 square miles, according to the lead petitioner in the city bid.
Jim Faiks, who's coordinating the incorporation effort, said the state followed his request to add a few lakes that were bisected by the previous city area recommendation.
Faiks, who hadn't seen the exact findings of the report early Friday, said, "Good, good. That sounds great," when he heard the specifics.
The Big Lake incorporation petitioners will make a presentation to the Mat-Su Borough Assembly at 4:30 p.m. March 17.
A decision on the petition could come next month. An election in Big Lake would most likely occur within 120 days.