§ 16.03. Anchorage Telephone Utility.

(a)

The Anchorage Telephone Utility shall be governed by a board of directors consisting of five members. Directors shall serve for staggered terms of five years and are appointed to office by the assembly upon nomination by the mayor or by a member of the assembly and after a public hearing. Exercise of the power of the veto by the mayor shall not extend to actions of the assembly with respect to appointment of directors. In connection with the operation and management of the utility, the board may exercise any power unless provided otherwise in this section, article II of the Charter, or prohibited by state law. Any director may be removed at any time upon a vote of at least eight members of the assembly, or a vote of at least six members of the assembly and concurrence of the mayor given within seven days after the assembly's action.

(b)

The utility shall be operated and compete in accordance with prevailing industry practices and in a manner which will provide a dividend to the municipality.

(c)

The board of directors may incur debt for the utility and may exercise the power of eminent domain on its behalf only with prior approval of the assembly. The assembly by ordinance shall determine the extent to which it will approve the rates, fees and charges imposed by the utility. The assembly may annually appropriate to the general fund any amount of utility revenues in excess of that required to discharge the utility's service obligations, meet its approved capital improvement program, and maintain financial integrity.

(d)

The Anchorage Telephone Utility and its board of directors shall be subject to the authority of the municipal ombudsman as provided by ordinance.

(e)

The compensation for the Anchorage Telephone Utility board of directors shall be determined by the commission on salaries and emoluments in the same manner as provided for elected officials in section 5.08(c) and section 5.08(d) of this Charter.

(f)

The Anchorage Telephone Utility shall operate on the same fiscal year as the Municipality of Anchorage, and shall submit its budget to the mayor on the same schedule as that required of other municipal utilities. The assembly shall have final approval of the utility budget.

(g)

In addition to any amounts the assembly may appropriate pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the Anchorage Telephone Utility shall pay a municipal utility service assessment if established by the Anchorage Assembly by ordinance.

(h)

Only the provisions of this section, section 16.02 and article II of this Charter, and state law applicable to home rule municipalities shall apply to the utility. The assembly, by ordinance, shall implement this section to provide for the independent management and operation of the utility consistent with this section. Exercise of the power of veto by the mayor shall not extend to enactment of legislation by the assembly required by this subsection.

(Initiative, prop. 32, 10-1-91)

Editor's note

The charter commission's commentary on this section is printed following the Charter as section 16.03 of such commentary.