r/Juneau

Hey y’all,

I am visiting Juneau the second week of June. I’m staying with a good friend who happens to work in Alaska. I’m wondering what would be a “must” for you if you had family coming into town. What would you take them to or recommend?

My parents keep stressing about bears and dumb things, do you feel like this is an actual concern? I am a younger female so I probably won’t do much hiking alone for obvious reasons lol.
Thanks!!

This entire opinion piece is filled with bullshit that I'm not going to go through line by line, but one of my favorites is "When you add up groceries, lights, heat, water, sewer and electricity, it is quite easy to spend $20,000 to $30,000 a year on these basics for an average family. For someone of limited means, $1,000 or $1,500 is a very significant sum."

What could a banana cost michael, ten dollars?! Dave, let me break this down for you. If you are someone of limited means, you are NOT spending $20,000-$30,000 per year on those bills. Before anyone asks, yes, dave lives in a house assessed far under what it is actually worth. Young families and those of limited means are, and have been, picking up the tab for Dave underpaying property taxes on his waterfront home assessed at 530k.

All these pricks got wealthy from long careers in a healthy PUBLIC SECTOR LOCAL ECONOMY. Now, because their fragile egos can't accept that fact, they want to play reaganomics and shit all over everything they owe their wealth to, now that it's time to be retired.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2917-Blueberry-Hills-Rd-S-Juneau-AK-99801/74504866_zpid/

This is today's example. Home is listed for 1.19 million dollars. Their tax assessment is 731k. Last week it was a home on mendenhall peninsula, listed for 1.5M, assessed at 850k.

This is the case for 90+% of homes you see come on the market for luxury prices, at least for the over a decade I have been paying close attention. They typically are underassessed by several hundred thousand dollars. That slack is picked up by other property tax payers, and when you look at the kind of homes that the majority of juneauites live in, like condos, townhouses, and small SFHs, their assessments are usually very close to their actual value. Commercial property is also almost always severely underassessed, sometimes by multiple millions, as we recently saw with the downtown lot by the plaza.

Many misunderstand the purpose of assessments. It isn't how property tax revenue is set, raised, or lowered. It's how property tax bills are fairly distributed based on relative value of the property you own. Alaska Statute § 29.45.110 and CBJ Municipal Code Title 69.10.020 REQUIRE that property tax owed be proportional to the "full and true value" of that property. The mill rate is how the city sets the amount of revenue to pull from property taxes. Doing so through assessments is plainly ILLEGAL.

When we have several thousand wealthy luxury homeowners and commercial property owners underpaying property tax to the tune of several thousand dollars apiece, that means the mill rate has to remain artificially high, because the total value of property in the city is underassessed. If these properties were simply assessed at fair market value, the mill rate could be lowered significantly, saving those poor young families affordable juneau claims to represent real money without requiring a single cut to services.

In 2021 CBJ required sale price disclosure for homes. The wealthy instantly flew into a rage, and got their local realtor cartel to spearhead a campaign to overturn it. They claimed it was about privacy. It was entirely about the above, hiding the fact the wealthy in this town have been laughing their way to the bank when it comes to property taxes. Juneauites should be enraged, we're being stolen from every single day by the same assholes behind affordable juneau. How (what at least used to be) a progressive, highly educated, public sector town has allowed itself to be led around by the nose by a bunch of retired MAGA dorks with nothing better to do than Smaug over their gold, is beyond me. Wake the fuck up Juneau and vote.

hello! im doing a work and travel program this upcoming winter (dec to march) in juneau. so im kinda worried about this topics:
- is the job market open? i want to get a second job there (specially as a server or in a restaurant/bar) bc its very important for me to get back my investment (around 3.5k)
- is the city accessible via bus or public transport? i dont have a car so if i want to go for example to downtown Juneau, is that something i can do easily?
- is shipping there higher? like if a want to order products from the apple store, best buy or places like that. can i find it easily in town or i have to necessarily ship it there?
- is it worth it if its my first time traveling to the us? if im hired i will be workign at a ski area (i dont want to disclose it bc idk if that legal) and they will be providing me housing in one the university dorms close to workplace.

Hello. I moved to Juneau relatively recently. I didn't need a car where I was living before, but I've gotten sick of not having one. I had been thinking about getting an SUV both because of how weather can affect daily life and because I want the option of traveling to places like hiking trails, other areas of Alaska, etc., and an SUV seems like it would be ideal for that.

On the other hand, in terms of my personal preferences, I generally prefer sedans and smaller cars over trucks and SUVs. It occurs to me that I probably wouldn't be doing much traveling during the times of the year when snow is a significant problem. So, I've been considering just getting a sedan with all wheel drive. I was wondering if I could get advice on whether that is a viable option, or if it would pose way too many problems in the winter. Obviously I see people in sedans all the time, but I don't know whether that is their only car, or if they have an SUV that they use when conditions are tough. One concern I have is needing to move my car when it is parked downtown, where I spend most of my time, but not knowing what I would do if snow made that impossible for a smaller car.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

The legislature is considering 2 bills, SB 111 and HB 162, which would require manufacturers of consumer electronics like computers, phones, appliances, etc to make the spare parts, tools, software, and schematics neccessary for repair available to independent repair shops and individuals who want to fix their own stuff.

This is good for reducing electronic waste, saving money, having more options, being more self-sufficient, and actually having repair options (a lot of authorized repair isn't available in state- seattle is the closest option).

The bill has bipartisan support, but out of state industry is lobbying hard to kill the bill, so legislators should hear from their constituencies that we want to have choices on who fixes our stuff.

You can testify by calling (907) 563-9085 and telling them you want to testify on HB 162 in the House Labor and Commerce Committee or emailing the committee at House.Labor.And.Commerce@akleg.gov

The Senate version of the bill is headed to the floor.

Edit: Hearing is a 3:15pm on Friday, May 8th.

Worth noting who created “affordable Juneau” that led to $12 million budget cuts and potential taking away of pools, eaglecrest and other important services for the people.

These aren’t people that need tax breaks. These are rich people

The site they once ran to pass their self serving tax breaks is now down…

So if you know of the others that organized this - please drop their names and businesses below so we know who’s false propaganda and bull to watch out for

Individuals

Frank Bergstrom (listed as Chair)

Joe Geldof (attorney)

Robert Jacobsen (associated with Taku Investments)

Scott Spickler - Insurance Broker and multiple investment property owner (in other words - property taxes benefit his business)

Angela Rodell (leader)

Peggy Ann McConnochie — Ms. I’m not a man so I must be ok / real estate broker - PeggyAnn McConnochie is a Juneau resident since 1980 and a member of Capital City Republican Women.

Businesses / Organizations

AJ / AJ Gold Mine

Kensington Mine

Taku Investments

Alaska Seaplanes

Cycle Alaska

There’s usually a lot of talk about assembly members… I’m curious what anyone knows about how they’ve voted.

Edit below … for the folks that are caught up on the word vote who want to distract from meaningful discussion

There’s a lot of talk about Assembly members—but not a lot of clear, accessible information about how they’ve actually positioned themselves for these cuts we are currently in.

Before jumping in with “it’s all public,” yes—documents exist. But they don’t always clearly show who supported what in a way that’s easy for the public to understand.

So if someone has a clean breakdown of votes by member, that’s what I’m asking for.

Hello, Im in Skagway for the summer, was curious about scuba shops in Juneau. Didn't bring any gear from Florida but am interested in putting together a dive trip possible next summer. Thanks in advance!

Can someone give me the low down on:

child development center at the federal building

Juneau Montessori

&Montessori Borealis?

I’ve heard mixed reviews on all and want raw af answers, thanks !

I’m traveling from Juneau to Bellingham in July with my dog, and I’ve never been on a ferry before. I’m planning to sleep on the deck in a tent. but I’d really love to know more about the experience overall. Can I bring snacks in my bag? How do the dog potty announcements work? What’s the boarding and loading process like? Is there any kind of security or bag checks I should expect? If so, I’d like to pack in a way that makes things easier, Any tips or general advice would be really appreciated.