Sitka’s childcare system has the capacity to serve only about half of the young children who need it, according to a childcare needs assessment that was presented to the Sitka Assembly at its meeting Tuesday night (5-12-26).
For years, parents and providers in Sitka have said childcare capacity on the island is at its limit. Now, the assembly is taking steps to address the issue. Earlier this year, the city hired the Southeast Childhood Collective to conduct a study, in an effort to understand and tackle the community’s childcare shortage.
The 30-page report analyzes the island’s childcare system and outlines three programming options to “improve stability, strengthen the workforce, and expand access to care.”
Blue Shibler, executive director of the regional nonprofit, said Tuesday that city governments across the state are trying to step it up because lack of childcare access is hurting local economies, affecting every sector of the workforce.
“We hear this from businesses in almost every industry. We hear it from chambers across the state and across the country, that the number one reason they have a hard time attracting employees and keeping employees is because they can’t find childcare,” Shibler said.
The report lays out three main childcare constraints: supply and demand imbalance, workforce limitations, and affordability.
It estimates that around 485 young children in Sitka require regular childcare. The licensed system has the capacity to serve about half of that. The report also says local childcare workers face a persistent wage gap that limits recruitment to the field, and estimates monthly tuition in Sitka far exceeds the federal threshold for affordable childcare. Federal benchmarks define childcare as affordable when it does not exceed 7% of household income. Based on Sitka’s median household income of about $101,200, the affordable monthly cost of childcare is $590. In practice, monthly tuition in Sitka averages approximately $1,600 for infants and $1,450 for toddlers, according to the city.
Shibler said the private market can’t increase the childcare supply on its own. A sustained public investment is needed, and strengthening childcare is a long-term investment in Sitka’s future.
“It’s important to note that the impacts of supply shortages extend across the community, in terms of reduced workforce participation, employer recruitment challenges and ultimately, population decline,” she said. “That has been talked about throughout the Southeast region quite a bit — that we’re losing families and the workforce age demographic in general because they can’t find childcare.”
The report suggests several program options that could cost anywhere from $277,000 to $2 million. They range from workforce incentives to subsidies and scholarships.
Program Model 1 — the least expensive option — is a workforce incentive program to address low wages. Model 2 provides a subsidy, or per child operating grant. And Model 3 blends the first two, and adds a family affordability component, like need-based scholarships from the city. Shibler said the program proposals are largely based on what has been successful in Juneau.
But how the city would pay for the programs is still unclear.
Three options were put forward to raise the necessary funds, including a 2% alcohol tax, a 1% seasonal sales tax for the winter months, or an additional 1% summer season tax.
Assembly Member Katie Riley said she’s “extremely uncomfortable” with a winter sales tax increase. She said it would be a burden that the working families in the community simply can’t afford.
“That doesn’t mean that they’re not thinking long term,” Riley said. “That doesn’t mean that we don’t know the importance of this. That means that right now, cost pressures are insane, and people do need to look out for their short-term costs in addition to thinking about that long-term picture.”
Assembly members agreed they want robust community input and further discussion before moving forward.
“I’ve heard the word ‘cost’ a lot,” said Assembly Member Tim Pike. “I actually think the right word is ‘investment.’ Right? We’re investing in our children as a community, and I think it’s important for us to keep that in front of us as we look at this funding process. It’s not a cost, it’s an investment, and it’ll pay dividends for us down the road, and it helps our community go forward.”
The assembly plans to hold a public work session in the next month to further discuss the issue.
