But Dillingham city officials are not planning to collect the 2.5 percent raw fish tax this year, and are budgeting accordingly.
The City of Dillingham has asked Judge Patricia Douglass to reconsider her March 27 ruling that struck down the 2012 Nushagak Bay annexation and fish tax. Meanwhile, officials are planning that the fish tax will not be a part of the city's budget.
"The city council agreed to have the city attorney, on his recommendation, submit a reconsideration document on the Nushagak annexation ruling," said city manager Rose Loerra. She said the Local Boundary Commission filed a similar request, and both were submitted within the allotted ten day timeframe to do so.
The judge has thirty days to offer a response to that request for reconsideration, which ends May 8, says Loerra.
In her ruling, Judge Douglass held that the annexation method used by the city and the Local Boundary Commission was not the correct one. She wrote that the residents in villages up and down the Nushagak Commercial Fishing District were not afforded the opportunity to participate in the decision making or the annexation vote in 2012.
The city, and the LBC, can still appeal the decision if the judge does not overturn her own ruling. Or, the city and the LBC can begin the process again, using the other method to annex territory that the judge ruled would’ve been the correct one.
The city and LBC could also take a different approach towards the same ends, like propose the formation of a borough.
The other option is to give up on the annexation and forget about the fish tax. Whether or not that happens, it doesn’t look promising that the tax will get collected this year. Loerra said the city is planning accordingly.
"For fiscal year 2014, which ends June 30, we'll have a shortfall of about $150,000, somewhere in that ball park," said Loerra. That money would've been collected if any Nushagak fish were caught in June. "And for FY 2015, we're not budgeting for any fish tax, which last year we budgeted expecting about $460,000."
That roughly half a million dollars would have gone into the city’s general fund, which totals about $8 million according to Loerra. The general fund pays for things like the public works, public safety, the library, senior center, landfill, and administration.
Loerra said she doesn't see any drastic, sequestration-type cuts that will be needed to absorb the budget shortfall.
"No, not at this time," she said. "We're working on the 2105 budget right now, and we have cut back considerably on some things trying to make up for that cut, but we won't be turning off the lights or pulling police off the streets."
The city’s 2015 budget will be introduced in June and go into effect in July 1.
The city council meets Thursday night but isn’t expected to take up the issue of annexation or the fish tax.