Bethel City Council has introduced an ordinance that could make some Bethel nonprofits exempt from city sales tax.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, nonprofit leader after nonprofit leader lined up to contest the tax, saying the payments would hurt their nonprofit missions.
Many nonprofits in Bethel haven't been paying sales tax for over a decade. The nonprofits thought they were exempt, and the city hasn't been enforcing the tax but announced it's going to start August 1.
Fritz Charles, speaking on behalf of Bethel Search and Rescue, says a sales tax would reduce BSAR's budget to search for missing people.
“Look at it this way: what if it’s your son? What if it’s your significant other that’s lost out there? Who's going to go out there and look?" Charles said.
Charles was the last to speak after more than an hour of outcry from YKHC, AVCP and other nonprofits. Charles commented on the importance of the combined efforts of all these groups.
“People have spoken tonight for this nonprofit tax exemption. All these organizations make the city of Bethel. We are all intertwined together," Charles said.
Council member Zach Fansler, who introduced the ordinance, said he'd met with several nonprofits to discuss the terms of the possible exemption and advocated for the change.
“They're doing jobs that city services couldn’t necessarily do," Fansler said, "if you're looking at communication or you're looking at running a domestic violence shelter or a child advocacy center, things like that. These are all super important things that are being done in our community."
The council will look over the ordinance at the next city council meeting.
The Bethel City Council meeting began at 6:40 p.m. with council members Albertson and Wise absent. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Zach Fansler is a KYUK employee.
