Cities and Alaska split a new gas tax by where it sits

In Alaska, HB 381 would move the new gas tax away from a simple property-tax model and toward a charge based on what moves through the project. The Department of Revenue would sit at the center of that system, with the state and municipalities each collecting their own share.

The bill would have municipalities levy and collect the alternative volumetric tax on qualifying property inside city limits. The state would levy and collect the same tax on qualifying property in the unorganized borough, and the revenue the state collects would go into the general fund.

A tax measured by flow, not footprint

The new levy is an alternative volumetric tax on natural gas throughput, which means the tax is tied to gas moving through the project rather than the assessed value of the infrastructure itself. That is a different kind of bill from the one most property owners know, and it matters because it changes what is being counted.

HB 381 also ties the ramp-up period to the date commercial operations begin. That gives the tax a defined starting point when the project moves from construction and testing into production.

The state share goes straight to Juneau

The money the state collects would not be parked in a separate account. It would be deposited in the general fund, making the tax part of the state’s broader budget picture as well as its gas-project rules.

The practical effect is that HB 381 is doing more than setting a charge. It is deciding who collects it, where it is collected and where the state’s share lands once the money comes in.