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September 25, 2017

Alaska budget error could shut ferries

HAINES, Alaska (AP) — A legislative mistake might mean the state ferry system will have to shut down in the spring, Alaska officials said.

The Alaska Marine Highway lost its allocated $30 million for the year due to an unforeseen error in the state's supplemental budget, The Juneau Empire reported Wednesday.

The 2017 budget had special language specifying the marine highway's funding would be cut if the supplemental budget needed more than $100 million — and that happened.

The Legislature uses the supplemental budget as a safety measure to cover money the state has already spent. It's an ordinary action, but for the past few years, the state has been using the supplemental budget as a tool to make budget cuts appear larger, according to the Juneau Empire.

To make the fiscal year 2018 budget appear smaller, the Legislature shifted some spending into 2017. It did the same last year as well.

“It's like spending more than you make from their checking account, but to fill in the gap, they made a transfer from savings to checking,” said Brian Fechter, an analyst for the Alaska Office of Management and Budget. “Except the transfer to checking never happened.”




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