TAXES

Starting next year, seniors in Unalaska will be eligible for a bigger sales tax refund from the city: $400, up from $200.

The City Council expressed unanimous support last month for raising the senior refund from $200 to $400. “The cost of living going up, the cost of airfare — just everything has put a real burden on our senior citizens,” said Councilor Daneen Looby. “And I feel like they don’t have a means to increase their income, like the younger generation does.”

The Unalaska City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to support a partial tax exemption for federally recognized tribes. The exemption would protect tribes from paying sales taxes on government activities, like buying office supplies or organizing culture camps. The city council’s vote in support on Tuesday moves the proposed tax exemption forward another step. The council is set to take another vote in early February to officially add the exemption to city code. The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska requested the exemption. It was previously exempt from city sales tax as a nonprofit. But the city changed the criteria for nonprofit exemptions several years ago, and then the tribe no longer qualified.

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