Tonight will be the first City Council meeting for Nome’s new City Manager, Glenn Steckman.
The Council will be voting on whether or not to give Nome representation on the Alaska Remote Sellers Sales Tax Commission. That commission is part of the Alaska Municipal League’s proposal to create a more centralized process for collecting online sales tax.
Currently, Alaska has no state sales tax but rather leaves it to each municipality to decide and to collect the tax on its own. By joining this commission, Nome would essentially have a voice in recommending and developing proposals that would potentially simplify local tax laws and administration, that’s according to the Alaska Intergovernmental Sales Tax Agreement.
Also on the agenda is a resolution allowing Nome Public Schools to use city property as teacher housing. That would be through a “right of entry” agreement. The proposed city lots in question are on Block 31, the same lots currently used for the ice rink.
Superintendent Jamie Burgess explained during the last Council meeting that the school district needs to prove they have a contract for land use in order to qualify for grant money for teacher housing from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation.
This evening’s meeting will begin at 7pm at Council Chambers in City Hall. A work session regarding the “state of the schools” will begin at 6pm, the agenda did not give more details as to what specifically will be discussed about the “state of schools.”
Image at top: City of Nome Council Chambers. Photo from Margaret DeMaioribus; KNOM (2019).
