As a renter, I contribute to the high property taxes paid by my landlord. There is also a special fee assessed for owning rental property and I pay that as well. I pay a high city tax on my food, fuel, and utilities. As a renter, I also contribute to the extra cost my landlord has to pay for fuel oil. There is no natural gas in rural Alaska. It is expensive to take trash to the dump. Food and fuel are very expensive as it is flown or barged in so there is a shipping surcharge added to the retail cost. The prices we pay to fly commercially include the fees our one flight service has to pay to the city and state in order to land here. Because the state no longer pays overtime for airport maintenance crews, our airport often closes early if planes cannot make scheduled arrivals due to weather. We have to pay the cost of staying in Anchorage until flights are rescheduled. We do not get cost of living raises to cover the expense of living here.