State of the City: Annual Report Shows Anchorage on the Right Track
Posted: 10/6/11
I delivered my annual State of the City speech to the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce several weeks ago. I used the occasion to give an update about how key aspects of city business are performing-public safety, economic development, financial outlook and quality of life, among others.
You can click here to see my full presentation, but I’ll also provide a quick overview.
On the public safety front, overall crime was down 2010, according to the Uniform Crime Report. Also, our roads continue to become safer as indicated in this year’s traffic report, which shows a steady decline in traffic accidents. We have new fire stations and in-car video for police on the way, and we’ll host both a fire and police academy in 2011.
Our financials are in good shape now that we’ve restored city savings accounts required to maintain our bond rating. After the market crash of 2008, our emergency funds were almost wiped out, but careful fiscal management has allowed us to restore those funds. Budget challenges will remain in the years ahead as mandated cost increases are expected to outpace revenues coming to the city, but for 2012, at least, we are able to maintain services with very modest tax increases by correcting an budget practice that has been used for many years.
Check out the full presentation, here.