Guide
Who runs what in Ketchikan
Several governments spend public money in and around Ketchikan. Their areas overlap on the map, but each has its own job, budget, and elected body. This guide explains the general picture. For specifics, read each government's own documents.
The governments
- City of Ketchikan
- The city government for the area inside city limits, led by an elected mayor and city council. It runs city services such as police, fire, streets, and the city-owned port facilities.
- KPU (Ketchikan Public Utilities)
- A utility owned by the City of Ketchikan. It provides electric and water service. KPU is part of the City, so its spending and rates show up in City budget documents and council decisions.
- Ketchikan Gateway Borough
- The regional government for the whole borough, including land outside city limits. It is led by an elected mayor and assembly. In Alaska, boroughs carry areawide duties such as education funding, planning and zoning, and assessing and collecting property tax. The Borough also provides some services only in certain areas, paid for by the people in those areas.
- School district
- Public schools are run by a school district with its own elected school board. The district is funded mainly by the State, with a local share that comes through the Borough.
- State of Alaska
- The State runs the state courts, the Alaska State Troopers, state highways, and the state ferry system, and it pays out many grants to local governments. The State also collects the cruise passenger tax described below and shares part of it with port communities.
- Federal government
- Federal agencies manage the national forest land around Ketchikan, oversee ship safety and navigation, and fund many local projects through grants. Federal money often reaches Ketchikan by way of the State, the City, the Borough, or a tribe.
- Tribal governments
- Federally recognized tribes are governments in their own right, not departments of the City or Borough. They have their own councils and budgets, and they can receive federal funding directly for programs such as housing, health, and education.
- Nonprofits and contractors
- They are not governments, but much public money reaches the community through them. A nonprofit may receive a grant to run a program, and a business may be paid under a contract. This site follows the money to them too.
Where you are matters
Inside city limits, you are served by both the City and the Borough, and you pay taxes to both. Outside city limits, the Borough and the State provide most government services. Police are one example. Inside city limits, the City's police department responds. Outside them, law enforcement generally falls to the Alaska State Troopers.
Courts in Ketchikan are part of the state court system, run by the State rather than by the City or Borough. Federal cases go to federal court.
Local taxes
- Sales tax. The City and the Borough each can levy a sales tax. Shoppers inside city limits generally pay both.
- Property tax. The Borough assesses property values. Property owners pay tax to the Borough, and owners inside city limits also pay tax to the City.
- Bed tax. A tax on short stays in hotels and other lodging, sometimes called a transient room tax.
- CPV passenger tax share. Money the State passes on from its cruise passenger tax. It is described in the next section.
Tax rates change by ordinance. The Money page shows tax revenue by year, and the Documents library holds the ordinances and budgets we have found.
What is the CPV passenger tax?
The State of Alaska charges a tax for each passenger aboard large cruise ships that visit Alaska. Its formal name is the commercial passenger vessel (CPV) excise tax. It began with a statewide ballot initiative.
The State keeps part of the money and shares part of it with communities where cruise ships call, including Ketchikan. Local governments receive these shares under formulas set in state law.
State law limits how shared CPV money may be spent. It is meant for costs connected to cruise ships and their passengers, such as port facilities and services that passengers use. Federal law also limits what ports may charge ships and how they may use the money, and there have been court disputes over these limits elsewhere in Alaska. Whether a given project is an allowed use can be a fair question to ask.
The Tourism page shows each local government's shares on record, by year.
Fiscal years
Governments budget by fiscal year, written FY. A fiscal year is a 12-month budget period that does not have to match the calendar year, and the City and the Borough do not have to use the same one. This site labels each figure with the fiscal year its source uses. Each budget document states when its fiscal year starts and ends.
Public records
Alaska's public records law gives anyone the right to inspect most government records, with exceptions set in law. Many records are already online. When they are not, we ask for them and track each request on the Records requests page.