Unless the context indicates otherwise, in this chapter

1. (1) "borough" means a general law borough, a home rule borough, or a unified municipality;
2. (2) repealed 1/9/2008;
3. (3) "commission" means the Local Boundary Commission;
4. (4) "commissioner" means the commissioner of commerce, community, and economic development;
5. (5) a "community" means a social unit comprised of 25 or more permanent residents as determined under 3 AAC 110.920;
6. (6) "contiguous" means, with respect to area, territory, or property, adjacent, adjoining, and touching; contiguous area, territory, or property includes area, territory, or property separated by public rights-of-way;
7. (7) "department" means the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development;

8. (8) "mandatory power" means an authorized act, duty, or obligation required by law to be performed or fulfilled by a municipality in the course of its fiduciary obligations to citizens and taxpayers; "mandatory power" includes one or more of the following:

   1. (A) assessing the value of taxable property, and levying and collecting taxes;
   2. (B) providing education, public safety, public health, and sanitation services;
   3. (C) planning, platting and land use regulation;
   4. (D) conducting elections; and
   5. (E) other acts, duties, or obligations required by law to meet the local governmental needs within the boundaries proposed for change;

9. (9) "model borough boundaries" means those boundaries set out in the commission's publications

   1. (A) Model Borough Boundaries, revised as of June 1997 and adopted by reference; and
   2. (B) Unorganized Areas of Alaska That Meet Borough Incorporation Standards: A Report by the Alaska Local Boundary Commission to the Alaska Legislature Pursuant to Chapter 53, Session Laws of Alaska 2002, dated February 2003 and adopted by reference;
10. (10) "permanent resident" means a person who has maintained a principal domicile within the boundaries proposed for change under this chapter for at least 30 days immediately preceding the date of acceptance of a petition by the department and who shows no intent to remove that principal domicile at any time during the pendency of a petition before the commission;
11. (11) "political subdivision" means a borough or city organized and operated under state law;
12. (12) "property owner" means a legal person holding a vested fee simple interest in the surface estate of any real property including submerged lands;

13. (13) "regional educational attendance area" means an educational service area established in the unorganized borough under AS 14.08.031 by the department; "regional educational attendance area" includes the territory within the boundaries of a

    1. (A) home rule city in that area;
    2. (B) first class city in that area; or
    3. (C) federal transfer regional educational attendance area formed under ch. 66, SLA 1985 in that area;

14. (14) "witnesses with expertise in matters relevant to the proposed change" means individuals who are

    1. (A) specialists in relevant subjects, including municipal finance, municipal law, public safety, public works, public utilities, and municipal planning; or
    2. (B) long-standing members of the community or region that are directly familiar with social, cultural, economic, geographic, and other characteristics of the community or region;
15. (15) "area" means the geographical lands and submerged lands forming the boundaries described in a petition regarding a borough government or forming the boundaries of an incorporated borough;

16. (16) "boundary change" means the type of action the commission takes to create, alter, or abolish a municipal government; "boundary change" includes

    1. (A) annexation, consolidation, detachment, dissolution, incorporation, and merger of boroughs or cities; and
    2. (B) reclassification of cities if jurisdictional boundaries for public school districts are affected;
17. (17) "city" has the meaning given in AS 29.71.800;
18. (18) "consolidation" has the meaning given in AS 29.71.800;
19. (19) "debt" means an obligation or alleged obligation of a municipality to pay money; "debt" includes funded debt and floating debt;
20. (20) "deunification" and "deunify" mean to change a unified municipality into a non-unified home rule borough;
21. (21) "floating debt" means a municipal obligation that is payable on demand;

22. (22) "funded debt" means a municipal obligation

    1. (A) evidenced by bonds payable at a time beyond the current fiscal year of their issue, with periodic payment of interest; and
    2. (B) for which provision is made for payment by future taxation;
23. (23) "merger" has the meaning given in AS 29.71.800;
24. (24) "numerical identifier" has the meaning given in AS 15.80.010;
25. (25) "non-unified home rule borough" means a home rule borough in which a city government does or could exist;
26. (26) "person" has the meaning given in AS 01.10.060;
27. (27) "public right-of-way" means a public easement or public property that is or may be used for a street, an alley, or another public purpose;

28. (28) "region"

    1. (A) means a relatively large area of geographical lands and submerged lands that may include multiple communities, all or most of which share similar attributes with respect to population, natural geography, social, cultural, and economic activities, communications, transportation, and other factors;
    2. (B) includes a regional educational attendance area, a state house election district, an organized borough, and a model borough described in a publication adopted by reference in (9) of this section;
29. (29) "regional" means having the characteristics of a region;
30. (30) "remnant city" means the portion of a city that will remain if a petition to detach territory from that city is approved under AS 29.06.040;
31. (31) "remnant borough" means the portion of a borough that will remain if a petition to detach area from that borough is approved under AS 29.06.040;
32. (32) "territory" means the geographical lands and submerged lands forming the boundaries in a petition regarding a city government or forming the boundaries of an incorporated city;
33. (33) "unified municipality" has the meaning given in AS 29.71.800;
34. (34) "unorganized borough" has the meaning given in AS 29.03.010.

(Eff. 7/31/92, Register 123; am 5/19/2002, Register 162; am 1/9/2008, Register 185)