9 AMD A—
(Continued from Page 1)
nual municipal election is in Oct
ober. Officers are elected annual
ly until length of term is chang
ed to 2 or 3 year terms by the
authority of the people. If the
council wants a longer term than
one year, the people must vote.
Q—Is it advisable to have a
city attorney?
A—You’ll need legal advice.
Full time is not mandatory.
Q-—Is the city magistrate ap
pointed by the council?
A—What’s normally done is
that the city magistrate is usually
the city clerk. And the clerk can
be the city treasurer. The magis
trate should be elected_does
not have to be an attorney.
Q—When would the magistrate
bt‘ elected?
A—I would think the whole
slate would be up for election in
October. The new law says muni
cipal and territorial elections
should be the same day.
Q—If we vote for incorporation,
will we automatically get a
mayor-council form of city gov
ernment?
A—Yes. Then you have the op
tion of voting on the manager
pjan. The law delegates certain
duties to a city manager.
Q—With the first council, are
the first duties to adopt a charter?
Or to decide wheather to vote on
the mayor-council or city man
agement plan? Should that be
submitted to the electorate?
A—One of the duties of the
council is to determine municipal
organization you want You’ll have
t® make a survey on what you
want and what you can afford.
You can write up a code of or
dinances as needed. You’ll need
certain officers, a clerk-treasur
er and tax officer in the immedi
ate future.
Q—There seems to be some
feeling that the council may try
to seize authority, try to control
certain interests to their disad
vantage. For example some of
1’“'- ICdi IUU 1IIUL.I1
regulation. Some other people
want to see a firm policy on liq
uor. Can the council act on its
own in regulating liquor or must
it be submitted to the people?
A—The council has the authori
ty to regulate with the limits of
its general authority. They can
not regulate a concern out of busi
ness without reason. The coun
cil is not the final authority in
such case. The person or concern
involved has recourse to the
courts. The council can enact an
ordinance, but unless the council
meets the reason of the majority
of people there’s apt to be a
“turnover”. What the council
does must be reasonable—rea
sonable closing hours, and so on.
Q—Is it your experience that
the actions of the council are a
reflection of the people’s wishes?
A—Yes. People’s opinion can
change the council. The council
as such pulls no authoritory out
of the air. Their authority is in
black and white. I don’t think
you’ll find your council taking
too Much authority
Q—The council will have to op
erate for a time without income.
Have you any suggestions as how
to meet that?
A—It’s like handling merchan
dise. If you don’t have the money
you don’t buy until you get the
money. You’ll have to depend on
voluntary jobs. The council has
the authority to borrow without
ijbonds to the extent of anticipated
revenues. You can incur debt not
beyond anticipated taxes. Taxes
are collected in advance. One of
$he most important things is to
determine the assessment date
and fiscal year. You’ll probably
need a lot of volunteer help the
first year.
Q—What about Anchorage and
public utilities?
A—All utilities have been a big
headache--not as to making mon
ey, but about funds for capital
to meet expansion. Our electri
cal operation had made a half
million but we have 3% million
invested in the plant. Our tele
phone system has made $100,000,
but we have 11/2 million invest
ment. In planning imperative
telephone expansion we thought
we had anticipated needs to 1955
but this year we must have 1,000
more telephones. There’s a profit
in the operation, but we have to
figure the cost of expansion. Wa
ter is the most difficult. You have
to determine your rates and the
amount required for regular use
and for fire protection. We made
$136,000 on water. We had to de
[ termine rates to cover the expen
se and for the amortization of
the debt. On garbage and airport
we’ll break even. We expect to
make money on phone and water.
A municipal business is like a
private business. You figure
what you have to do and what it
will cost; you must have capi
tal to invest and faith in the fu
ture. It comes back to what do
you want to go into business.
You can make one department
subsidize another until all make
money. It takes money to stay in
business.
Q—Does a city have trouble
in disposing of bonds?
A—We have more difficulty
in the Territority than stateside.
Anchorage had no difficulty in
disposing of the last bond issue,
at 3% per cent. No matter how
small your city government is,
we are told you must set up an
accurate accounting system so
the bonding people have a his
tory. The national situation will
have some bearing, too. One me
dia of financing is the Alaska
Public Works.
Q—Will the Anchorage city
government help us on our prob- |
• A—Yes, but more than that,
there’s the League of Alaska
Cities which conducts research
to help all cities.
Q—Some of us who have size
able investments in town live out
I side the proposed corporate li
mits. Would we have any vote on
bond issues?
A—To vote, you must live
within the municipality. In a
bond election you can only vote
if you are a resident and own
property.
Q—In the matter of bids, is
there a limit on the amount w'hich
can be spent without calling for
bids?
A—On Territorial bids, yes. In
the city that would depend upon
the charter.
Q—In the proposed city limits
of Palmer there are some acres of
non-taxable land. Will Territorial
and federal agencies help support
city services?
federal agencies help support city
services?
A—Federal agencies have the
authority to make payments to
the city in lieu of tax. In Anchor
age the post office pays nothing;
the Alaska Railroad pays noth
ing; federal housing pays the
same amount as taxes. Some ter
ritorial agencies are not of the
tax type, such as the highway
patrol—that comes in the line of
public service. In the matter of
civilian defense, the city has the
power to enforce regulations even
on the fringe around the city. As
to schools, if the budget does not
exceed 6 2/3 mills tax, the city
council cannot affect the amount.
Unpaid School Tax
Crackdown Looms
With the Territorial tax office
threatening to issue warrants for
persons who are delinquent on
the $5 school tax, many individu
als were up in the air as to wheth
er they had paid or not—and if
not, what happens.
In Palmer, U. S. Commission
er Dorothy Saxton advised those
in doubt to contact her immed
iately. She will recheck records
of 1949 and 1950 to ascertain
whether school taxes have been
paid to her office. Unpaid taxes
of 1949-50 are delinquent and
subject to penalty.
School tax for 1951 was payable
any time after January 1, and is
due on demand. All persons over
21 and under 55 must pay the $5
school tax, with certain depend
ency and military service exemp
tions. The tax is payable by non
residents, except sigh-seers or
tourists.
But if the tax goes over that, the
city can.
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_ l
No Change Ordered
On Grocery Prices In
Territory, Says OPS
Queries from Matanuska Val
ley grocery store owners on price
control have brought forth the
following answers:
Grocery stores are still covered
under ceiling price regulation 9,
Fred G. Hanford, territorial dir
ector of the Office of Price Stabil
ization at Juneau said.
Hanford said inquiries had re
sulted from news releases from
Washington, D. C., last week
which told of a new pricing meth
od for food stores. He said this
A
Ray Smith Dies
News of the death of Ray
i Smith, well-known Alaskan, in
! Oregon, March 26, has been re
: ceived. Mr. Smith, after treat
i ment at Valley Hospital, Palmer,
was flown outside for treatment,
i He is survived by his daughter,
Mrs. Laura (James) Barry, Palm
er; by a son, Alwyn Smith, Anch
orage; and by other daughters
living in the States.
new method did not apply to Al
aska and that grocers here are
still governed by Regulation 9
which calls for establishing base
period price and figuring dollar -
and-cents markups for the period^
1
Announcement
EVERYONE INTERESTED IN AN
IMPROVED TELEPHONE SERVICE
IN PALMER AND THE MATANUSKA VALLEY
Urgent Meeting
Thurs. April 12, at 8 pm
at the Sand's Home
(Located across the street from Bugge Cabin
on WasiHa Road)
Fight For A Telephone At Reasonable Cost
Matanuska Valley
TELEPHONE CO.
Al Hagen announces an added attraction
'flic Homr Hot Shots
IN PERSON - With Regular Show
9
Sunday April 8
Matinee: 2 p. m.-7:15 & 9:15
3 Showings Only!! - By Your Tickets Early
Valley Theatre