3.0 Affected Environment - Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority

Knik Arm Crossing DraftFinal EIS
Affected Environment
3.2.3 Community Facilities, Public Services, and Fiscal Conditions
This section covers the major public facilities and services that might be affected by
implementation of the KAC project and summarizes the fiscal condition of the local
governments that might be affected by the project.
Neighborhood and community cohesion, including environmental justice, is discussed in
Section 3.2.1, and population and social groups are discussed in Section 3.2.5. The
governments considered in this section include the Municipality of Anchorage; Matanuska-
Susitna Borough; the Cities of Wasilla, Palmer, and Houston; and the State of Alaska.
3.2.3.1 Provision of community facilities and public services
A large number of community facilities and public services in the Mat-Su and Anchorage are
provided by federal, state, and local governments in the affected area. This section focuses on
some of the major facilities and services that could experience indirect effects from the
project and includes education, emergency services, highway and road services, and public
utilities, such as water, wastewater treatment, electrical utilities, and solid waste disposal.
3.2.3.1.1 Educational services
Educational services include the provision of primary and secondary education to area
residents. Two public school districts operate in the affected area—Anchorage School
District (ASD) and Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD); each provides
prekindergarten through twelfth-grade education services. The largest single revenue source
to the districts from the State is the Alaska Public School Funding Program. Revenue from
this program is based on the number of students enrolled in the district and the type of
educational services delivered. Local property taxes provide the other major revenue source
for the districts.
The Mat-Su
MSBSD has been growing by an average of nearly 450 students a year for the past 5 years—
the equivalent of one new school per year (Komarnitsky 2005). This growth has placed a
significant strain on existing school facilities. No schools are located in the Point MacKenzie
area and the anticipated growth area. The nearest elementary schools within the MSBSD are
Big Lake Elementary and Goose Bay Elementary. The nearest junior and senior high schools
are Houston Junior/Senior High and the junior and senior high schools in Wasilla
(MSBSD 2005a).
MSBSD manages 20 elementary schools, 5 middle schools and 5 high schools,
1 junior/senior high school, 1 K–12 school, and 3 charter schools. Schools in Palmer and
Wasilla had 5,468 and 6,677 students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade, respectively,
and Houston had 837 middle and high school students.
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