(Juneau) - Today the Alaska Senate took a big step to providing sustainable and reliable funding for education in rural Alaska. SB 112 establishes an annual tax in Regional Education Attendance Areas (REAAs) where there is no existing local support for schools.

Residents in REAAs will pay the tax to support the capital and operating expenses for public schools in their community. The amount will be based on the average amount residents of organized boroughs contribute to local schools.

Sen. Con Bunde (R - Anchorage) sponsored the bill. "The time has come for everyone to chip in and help pay for providing public education in their hometown. This legislation puts more money into classrooms without forming a local government that many folks in rural Alaska say they don't want."

The legislation keeps any money raised by the tax in the community where it was raised to supplement, not replace state funding.

Senior citizens, anyone living under the federal poverty guidelines, disabled veterans and anyone paying property taxes in another part of the state are exempt from paying the tax. It will only be paid by Alaskans 21 years of age or older.

SB 112 now moves to the Alaska House of Representatives.

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