House Bill 241 "An Act relating to optional exemptions from municipal property taxes on residential property."
Click for PDF: http://www.akdemocrats.org/sponsor/HB241_ss_rep_croft.pdfOne hundred dollars a month disposable income. That's all many residents of Alaska's Pioneer Homes have. No current resident may be evicted from a Pioneer Home for inability to pay. However, in exchange for state assistance in paying their Home costs, some Pioneer Alaskans must forfeit virtually all their assets, spending down their savings then accepting what many proud Pioneers consider to be a form of welfare. It does not have to be this way. The Pioneers' Dignity Act of 1997 guarantees the rights of Home residents to keep up to $5,000 in personal property and to receive certain forms of income, such as Permanent Fund Dividends and ANCSA distributions. In addition, when one spouse lives in a Home and the other continues to live outside the Home, the house or condominium is not counted as an asset of the resident spouse. Pioneers' Home costs have risen sharply in recent years and will continue to rise. A basic room currently costs a resident $934 a month, but will cost $2,129 by the year 2003. Of the 600 residents statewide, approximately 130 apply for and receive state assistance in paying their rates. To be eligible for payment assistance, residents must relinquish all their income—including Longevity Bonus and Permanent Fund Dividend—and keep only $100 a month. One hundred dollars isn't enough to pay for clothing, subscriptions, toiletries, calls to relatives and gifts for grandchildren. In the richest state in the union, to restrict Home residents to such a meager allowance is to needlessly rob them of their dignity and independence. Our Pioneers—who have contributed so much effort to building our great state—deserve better treatment. The fiscal impact of HB241 will be minimal. Increased revenues from Home residents will more than offset the cost of disregarding certain assets and income. Some of the features of the bill will soon be incorporated in pending regulations. HB241 simply sets in statute some of the more important and basic rights. Please join me in treating our Pioneers with the respect they deserve.
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