Police Department Emergency Police Response Outside the Townsite

Police Department Emergency Police Response Outside the Town-site

Current Situation – Alaska State Troopers • Colonel James Cockrell (Director – Alaska State Troopers) says the state feels the Haines Borough Police Department should take over as the primary law enforcement agency for the entire Borough. • “The Haines Police Department should patrol inside the Haines Borough, ” Cockrell said. • Haines isn’t the first community in which AST has tried to shift law enforcement responsibility to police departments. The same thing happened in Girdwood, Alaska. • Currently, AST is pushing all calls for service to HBPD if the Brown shirt is not available.

How We Are Dealing With The Loss of the Blue Shirt HBPD is dealing with this situation by responding to emergency calls for service only.

Request From Assembly • What do the voters outside the town-site want for services/expect? • Does the community feel the Haines Borough has a duty to respond to emergencies outside the town-site service area? • If we as the Borough cannot respond to calls for service outside of the town-site, what would that look like?

Examples of Options • Get out the word that the HBPD is no longer responding outside the town-site. Cease response on 1 July 2017. • Expand the service area for police protection beyond the town-site and levy a property tax to pay for police protection outside of the town-site. This would require a vote of current and proposed service area. – Out the highway (fire district #3) – Mud Bay – Lutak • Charge police calls outside the town-site as a work order to be paid by a funding source: State of Alaska, Medical Service Area, … • Change sales tax dedications so that police is funded with sales tax instead of property tax and is provided on an area-wide basis. The idea is not to raise the sales tax rate but to change the dedications. This would require a Borough-wide vote.

FY 17 How Haines Police is Funded Sales Tax 43% Other 1% Townsite Property Tax 26% State of Alaska 30%

Next Town Hall Meeting: Wednesday, 19 April 2017@ 530 pm Haines Borough Public Library Comments may be emailed to Ms. Krista Kielsmeier at kkielsmeier@haines. ak. us

Community Response Only emergency response outside of town site Majority of the group supported this option Majority felt they paid enough taxes and should not have to pay more No emergency response outside of town site Several people reported they did not want any police response Emergency response and patrols outside of town site Some people reported they wanted limited patrols outside of town site. Unhappy with response time for emergency calls

How to pay • • • No police emergency response outside of town site Increase sales tax outside of town site Redefine Medical Service Area Tax – Rededication and/or increase (Vote) Area Wide Property Tax Reallocation – Expand Service Area Rededication of Tourism/Economic Development tax Rededication of a portion of the Capital Improvement Project tax Use a portion of the Cruise Ship Passenger Vessel Tax to off set police budget Conduct a survey to establish community police response Mutual aid agreement with Canadian Customs

Better Explain Tax • • Sales Tax Distribution Property Tax Distribution Dkaslkfjasldlkfjsdl A; ldkj

Sales Tax 1 % Areawide General (~$525 K) . 5% Medical Service Area (~$263 K) 1% Economic Development/Tourism (~$525 K) 1. 5% Capital Improvement Projects (~$785 K) 4. 0% Areawide Tax (~$2. 1 million) 1. 5% Townsite Service Area (~$710 K) 5. 5% Sales Tax (~$2. 8 million) + 4% Lodging Tax (~$100 K) TOTAL Sales Tax = ~$2. 9 million