Potty talk ran rampant at the Skagway Borough Assembly last week.  Winter bathroom closures were discussed and a call for outhouses on the Klondike Highway was flushed into action.  Mayor Sam Bass wants to bring local Alaska banks to the borough, and a tax will be applied to Internet sales for the first time in Skagway history.

 

The Jan. 4 Skagway Borough Assembly went just under an hour, leaving enough time for participants to catch the high school basketball tournament. Assembly members passed a tax on internet sales, discussed the need for public toilets and asked staff to research how to attract additional brick and mortar banking options. 

Ordinance 23-27, proposed by Assemblymember Jay Burnham, adopted a remote seller sales tax code. For the first time, the municipality will collect tax on internet sales.  

Assemblymember Weddell pointed out that while there was no discussion at the Jan. 4 meeting, the issue was debated at the previous assembly meeting and multiple finance meetings. She said the measure was necessary to meet the changing marketplace. 

Alex Weddell:  “…big and small online retailers are growing in number in the modern world. And this ordinance implements a system for Skagway to collect sales tax on online sales, which is good because we increase our revenue.” 

There was a lot of potty talk throughout the meeting, as Burnham voiced his concern that the new bathrooms at Shoreline Park were closed for the winter. He inquired if the original intent was to keep the restrooms open throughout the year. Staff and assembly members were unable to answer his question and Deputy Borough Manager Emily Deach promised to research the matter. 

Continuing the bathroom discussion, Assemblymember Orion Hanson noted that tour operators have complained there are no outhouses on the American side of the Klondike Highway. After speaking with Skagway’s government lobbyist John Walsh, Hanson suggested the municipality should reach out to the Department of Transportation (DOT). 

Orion Hanson: “And I think that this is something we just need to formally bring to their attention. That it should be up there that we have 1.2 million tourists and we’ve had a stretch of road that is in the United States that we don’t have accommodations for people. And I don’t think that’s good enough.”  

Mayor Sam Bass requested Hanson draft a letter to DOT for assembly approval. 

The assembly also discussed banking, formally requesting staff to correspond with Alaska banking institutions “to see what steps it will take for them to create a physical location in Skagway.”  

Skagway has one bank in town, Wells Fargo. Hanson said that in some cases, an Alaska-centric bank might better serve the unique needs of Skagway. 

Orion Hanson:  “I think Alaska centric banks understand rural, the rural net aspect of what’s happening here. And sometimes it can be easier to get loans, to understand what’s happening in rural Alaska. Particularly on property…” 

The next assembly meeting is scheduled for Jan. 18.