Should restrictions be lifted on Sitka’s Community Hospital fund to pay for upgrades to Sitka’s athletic facilities? When the assembly meets tonight (7-8-25) it will consider whether to put that question out to voters in the municipal election this fall.
The Sitka Community Hospital was sold to SEARHC in 2019, and the fund associated with the hospital is restricted to supporting the retirement of former employees. That fund also takes in around $800,000 a year from the city’s tobacco tax, so there’s extra money in the fund that cannot currently be spent, per the city’s Home Rule Charter.
Assembly members Chris Ystad and Kevin Mosher have proposed updating the city charter so the money in the fund can be put toward repayment of bonds for a future multi-purpose sports complex, which would require voter approval. The proposal passed unanimously on its first reading at an assembly meeting in June, with the expectation that sponsors would bring more information about the plan to tonight’s meeting. It could take several more readings for the proposition to be finalized for consideration in the October municipal election.
In other business, the assembly will consider whether to leave Lincoln Street open for the rest of the summer, and will consider contracting with the Chamber of Commerce to provide visitor services for the city through the end of the calendar year.
The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.
