Overview
Denali Borough — gateway to Denali National Park and Preserve — funds itself overwhelmingly from visitors: $5,700,000 of its $7,227,557 in FY2026 General Fund revenue is the overnight accommodation tax, about 79% of the total. Against that revenue, the adopted budget authorizes $8,265,109 in expenses and transfers out, including $2,930,714 for the Denali Borough School District and $1,323,000 in transfers to land management, solid waste, and school maintenance reserves. The $1,037,552 gap between revenue and authorized spending is covered from reserves; the ordinance cites a maximum General Fund expenditure limit of $12,532,452 as of April 1, 2025 under the borough’s forward-funding rule, so the adopted $8,265,109 sits inside that limit.
At a glance
Revenue
General Fund estimated revenue, FY2026 proposed column as adopted by Ordinance 25-03.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Overnight accommodation tax | $5,700,000 |
| Severance tax | $50,000 |
| Alcohol tax | $400,000 |
| Marijuana tax | $60,000 |
| PILT (federal payment in lieu of taxes) | $365,000 |
| Community assistance (state) | $252,507 |
| PERS paid by state on behalf | $38,000 |
| Electricity / telephone co-op tax | $49,800 |
| Interest income | $300,000 |
| Miscellaneous income | $2,250 |
| Penalties / interest | $10,000 |
| Total General Fund revenue | $7,227,557 |
Spending
General Fund expenses and transfers, FY2026 as adopted. Governance expenses include a $1,238,478 budgetary reserve line — money set aside inside the governance total, not an additional appropriation on top of it.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Governance expenses (including $1,238,478 budgetary reserve) | $4,011,395 |
| School district — required contribution | $1,115,439 |
| School district — additional allowable contribution | $1,815,275 |
| Transfers out — to Land Management Fund | $350,000 |
| Transfers out — to Solid Waste Enterprise Fund | $823,000 |
| Transfers out — to Major School Maintenance Reserve Fund | $150,000 |
| Total expenses and transfers out | $8,265,109 |
Disclosure — spending above revenue: adopted expenses and transfers out ($8,265,109) exceed adopted revenue ($7,227,557) by $1,037,552. The ordinance authorizes this under the borough’s forward-funding rule (Denali Borough Code 3.05.020(c)): proposed expenditures may not exceed available reserves plus unexpended revenues, and the ordinance states the FY2026 maximum as $12,532,452 as of April 1, 2025. A separate $200,000 deposit to the Parks and Recreation Fund is shown in the ordinance after the expense total and is not included in the $8,265,109.
Sources & notes
- Source used: Denali Borough Ordinance 25-03, FY2026 Budget, passed and approved June 4, 2025, unanimous Read the source document.
- Sum checks: revenue lines re-add exactly to $7,227,557; governance $4,011,395 + school district $2,930,714 + transfers out $1,323,000 = $8,265,109; school required $1,115,439 + additional $1,815,275 = $2,930,714; transfers $350,000 + $823,000 + $150,000 = $1,323,000.
- Identity: this is Denali Borough, Alaska. Its seat, Healy, is a census-designated place with no government of its own, so no seat dashboard exists for this unit. Denali Borough is not the Denali National Park and Preserve, a federal unit.
- Jurisdiction palette: no verified palette was on file for this jurisdiction — the official site’s theme information could not be confirmed as a government-specific palette rather than a platform default — so this page uses the neutral Hometown Numbers dark-glass theme rather than a jurisdiction color.
- Photo: Wonder Lake and Denali, Denali Borough, Alaska (June 2010) (Denali National Park and Preserve, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).