 Communities To Address Rising Cost of Fuel October 29, 2004
"These communities have experienced higher energy costs than the rest of Alaska and they have no tax base and insufficient commerce to support a sales tax," Murkowski said. High fuel costs have created an almost insurmountable burden on small communities and their residents, said the governor. In an effort to combat these costs, the governor will ask the Legislature for approximately $6.8 million in state financial support for small rural communities as part of a supplemental budget request. The program will provide a base payment of $25,000 for communities with a population of less than 100 people, $50,000 for communities of 100 to 600 residents, and $75,000 for communities with more than 601 but fewer than 1,200 residents. "High energy costs are a barrier to economic development in Rural Alaska," Governor Murkowski said. "Strong economies are key to healthy communities. We are working with Rural Alaska to grow those economies - and providing this assistance is one step in that process." The new community assistance
program is expected to provide relief to about 125 small communities
that need help in offsetting high cost of energy.
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