Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz's proposed budget sailed through its first public hearing Tuesday, with the Anchorage Assembly deferring debate on the budget's most controversial matters for another week.
The budget needed a boost from another ordinance that changed the way the city's tax cap is calculated. The ordinance, proposed by Assembly member Elvi Gray-Jackson and approved 7-4 Tuesday night, allows the city to apply state revenue to the budget after property tax values are assessed.
Assembly members will hear some of the more contentious issues in the budget at its Nov. 10 meeting. There will also be a hearing on an ordinance to raise the cost of traffic tickets and user fees levied by the state's parks and recreation, health and building services departments.