City budgets $3 million for Nome Public Schools

The Nome Common Council on Monday passed a resolution to contribute $3 million to the school district for fiscal year 2027, beginning on July 1. The contribution can be increased later as the city’s budget is finalized over the coming months.
Discussions of the FY27 budget draft – both the City of Nome’s overall budget and the city’s contribution to Nome Public Schools – dominated the work session and following Nome Common Council meeting Monday evening.
The city’s FY27 budget draft included a higher contribution to Nome Public Schools than expected, increasing the contribution by $300,000 from the initially budgeted $2.7 million.
Nome Public Schools administrators have asked for $3.5 million. Last year, the city contributed $2.7 million to NPS, down from $3.2 million the previous year.
Seven current and former students from Nome Public Schools spoke up during the public comment period at the meeting, urging council members to fund schools. The students cited teacher turnover, aging facilities and a lack of support for student activities as effects from lack of adequate funding of the schools. Kaya Kent, a senior who grew up in Nome and attended Mt. Edgecumbe for her first year and a half of high school, said that the quality of Nome schools is worsening. “Even since I’ve been back, I’ve seen a decline,” she said. “This year, I and a couple of peers were left with no advisor for multiple extracurricular activities, including National Honor Society, Spirit Club and Ed Rising.”
Council member Scot Henderson expressed frustration that the council was being asked to decide on a contribution to NPS after only just seeing the first budget draft for FY27. “Ever since I’ve been on the council, we decide on the school funding amount at the last council meeting in May,” he said.
Nome Public Schools finalized their FY27 budget much earlier than in previous years, which started the clock for the city to pass a resolution solidifying their contribution. Once the NPS budget was delivered to the city, the council had 30 days to pass a resolution with the city’s contribution.
First, the council voted to amend the resolution on the city’s contribution to NPS, upping it from $2.7 million to $3 million. Out of the six council members present, only Scot Henderson voted against it. Next, the council unanimously passed the resolution to contribute $3 million to NPS.
The council also passed a resolution supporting the funding of Local Emergency Preparedness Committees in the state.
During the work session, council members had their first opportunity to look at the FY27 draft budget. The overall revenue for the city for FY27 is projected at $18.6 million, an increase from the current fiscal year’s projected income of $16.7 million. Overall expenditures are predicted to be $19.7 million, up from the FY26 budgeted expenses of $17 million.
Driving the increase in expenditures are personnel costs, which have gone up for FY27.
“Our big hit this year is health insurance and filling jobs. We’re filling positions that were not filled last year, and that’s probably over a million dollars,” said City Manager Lee Smith. “That’s where I’ve had the major increase, is personnel.”
Also during the work session, Consultant Stephanie Queen presented the draft of an economic development strategic plan. Queen has been working on the plan for over a year. The plan has seven core elements related to workforce development, small business support, improving quality of life in Nome, cultural tourism and preparing for big projects like the Port of Nome expansion.
When researching the strategic plan, Queen said that she found that the highest priority from members of the public is access to affordable housing and preserving Nome’s unique culture, which she took into consideration when creating the plan. Her main suggestions for starting points were that the City of Nome convene an annual investment summit and establish an economic development working group.
Queen noted that many of the goals in the plan would require outside partnerships. “There’s a tremendous amount in this plan that really doesn’t fall squarely within what the city offers in terms of services, and it really would require a partnership, or even a partner, to take the lead,” she said.
Next, she suggests the full draft be shared with the public and that there should be opportunity for public input before a final draft is adopted.
Charlie Lean commented on the plan, saying that as Nome grows, they should emphasize what already makes Nome a good place to live, like the Rec Center, library and museum. “Quality of life is a big deal,” he said. “We want to encourage people to stay or bring in new residents.”
During public comments, the ever-present problem of lack of taxis came up. Leon Boardway commented that not having the option to call a cab as a handicapped person and a senior citizen was making his life harder. He suggested that the city set up a six-month emergency system to get cabs on the streets.
Steven Longley, who offers rides for donations, also spoke up about the issue. He said he has stopped advertising his services because he cannot handle any new commuters. “I can’t take care of the people I already have. I don’t want any new people,” he said. “I quit going to the high school. I’m at the point now where I may quit going to the airport.”
Longley advocated for the city to do away with cab permits completely. “I’d be a legal cab tomorrow. I have my business license, I have a sales tax license, I have a chauffeur’s license,” he said. “I’m pretty sure at least two Checker guys would come back out, get their chauffeurs, and we’d have cab companies again.”
During board comments, Lee Smith noted that Veterans Affairs plans to open an office in Nome sometime this summer.  
The city council finished the regular meeting and went into executive session to discuss personnel matters. The next council meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 27.