Letter: This property tax assessment doesn’t reflect Anchorage reality
In July 2025, I agreed to help my daughter sell her and her husband’s condominium in the 3300 block of Greenland Drive in Spenard. To do this, I did what I do with all properties I sell. I made it like new. We spent approximately $30,000 to get it in like-new condition. Paint, inside and out, new doors to replace any that were blemished, new inside LED light fixtures, new carpet and vinyl flooring and drywall repair.
The real estate agent thought we would easily have a quick sale at $395,000. What she did not know was that Minnesota Park, across the street, has been taken over, for years, by homeless individuals, inebriates, drug users and drug salesmen. As I did repairs, I observed all of the above, plus cars that would appear several times a day carrying drug salesmen. The trade was obvious to the casual observer. These people would be found using electrical outlets next to our and neighbors’ garages, using water spigots and sleeping on porches.
I called the police — a lot. From July 1 through Oct. 15 last year and again from Nov. 14 until Jan. 4, I saw various police respond to calls, but I never saw an arrest.
It quickly became obvious that I could not sell the unit for the listed price and we kept lowering the price. We finally sold the unit in December for $325,000 with various other concessions, lowering the amount received to $307,000. Coupled with the $30,000 that was paid for upgrades, this meant the in “in pocket” amount was $277,000.
The Municipality of Anchorage has just sent out the property tax cards for 2026, and they list the amount the property is worth at $369,400. That may be an accurate price if Minnesota Park were not constantly used and trashed by the people mentioned above.
I am familiar with the area as I owned a business in Spenard for years and was the president of the Spenard Community Council for several years, as well as a member of the Spenard Action Committee and the Spenard Community Patrol. Spenard has long been a dumping ground for Anchorage. The subdivision this house is in has had substandard streets since at least the 1980’s and the Community Council tried for years to have the streets upgraded. The street adjacent to Minnesota Park is a pothole nightmare and all the other streets bounded by Spenard, Benson, Minnesota and Fish Creek are abysmal.
So why do people adjacent to the park and others in the subdivision have to pay property taxes commensurate with other residential structures in Anchorage when everything about the area is substandard due to the municipality’s fault?
I call on the property owners in this area to protest their assessments and demand that the area be given police protection until the park is safe for children and residents to recreate in. I also think they should demand that the streets be upgraded to a standard commensurate with other subdivisions throughout Anchorage.
— Tom McGrath, Anchorage
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