The cost of running the city has been rising, said Stark, a retired engineer, mentioning the public employees' retirement system, which has risen by around 5 percent every year. The state has its own financial difficulties and doesn't have the money to help cities like Homer.
"The key to the city is guiding growth and change instead of sticking our heads in the sand," he said.
"The overarching issue is: Can Homer stay a small town forever? The answer is no."
The city would be wise to re-evaluate some of its past attitudes regarding development, he said.
On Thursday, Stark told the Homer Chamber of Commerce luncheon crowd that the city's comprehensive plan, which has helped guide planning decisions in past years, has not kept up with the times since being updated a few years ago.
Since then, Homer has grown and changed, 900 people have been annexed to Homer, and a vote in June showed that voters want development.
The existing comprehensive plan doesn't accurately reflect the will of the people, said Stark, and has contributed to a problem. The worst thing for the city would be if a large store set up just outside of the city limits where Homer couldn't collect tax revenues, whether from sales or property taxes.
Stark also said he supports the current proposal to raise the sales tax, saying it is a good way of making all users, whether they are residents or visitors, pay for city services.
"Over half of the sales tax comes from people who come from outside this city," he said. It is in voters' best interest to pass the tax increase in October.
"If it fails at the ballot box, the council will be forced to substantially increase the property tax, which comes just from city property owners," he said.
Stark said that he expects broad support for the library, which he said will be a great asset to the community. He also said he'd like to see the city try to get a traffic signal installed on the bypass.
"I've been trying for the past few years to get a traffic signal on the Sterling Highway to alleviate some of the traffic problems that we've had there," he said. "The council has voted it down."
He also feels that the Spit would be a great place for more recreational activity, and supports efforts to rezone it for such uses, provided they're approved on a conditional basis.
Chris Eshelman
Homer City Council Member Doug Stark, who is an incumbent running for a three-year council seat, told the Homer News the biggest challenge facing the city is to try and pay the bills during a time of growth and change.
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