PALMER — The Mat-Su Assembly voted this month to shift all animal services and rules across Mat-Su to borough control starting this summer, a step that could boost property taxes for Houston, Wasilla and Palmer residents.
The move spreads the cost of the borough’s animal shelter system and patrol staff across all Mat-Su property taxpayers. It raises borough service bills for city residents, and lowers what’s passed on to the rest of Mat-Su. It also ends the patchwork of laws and contracts that governed animal oversight within city borders.
The borough will take over all city animal services on July 1, according to the measure, and all animal control across Mat-Su will fall under borough law…