Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

The Haines Borough is projected to receive $621,300 in the final round of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) pandemic relief.

The funds can be used as general funds, including to be used as a non-federal match, according to the Alaska Municipal League (AML) which sent out guidance to municipalities last week.

Haines was one of 15 Alaska communities that received a total of $27 million in federal funding. Some Southeast communities, including Sitka, Juneau and Wrangell, were left off the list. Anchorage also received no funding. The funding formula is primarily based on federal acreage within each municipality’s boundaries. Poverty levels, population, unemployment and other economic conditions also factor into the formula.

In an email to municipal staff, AML executive director Nils Andreassen said AML is working with Alaska’s congressional delegation and the National Association of Counties to convince the U.S. Treasury to correct the mistake. “I think there should be some high-level attention to this,” he said in an email to municipal officials last week.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 appropriated $2 billion for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to provide additional payments to eligible counties nationwide — which, in Alaska, are boroughs — and eligible tribal governments “for use on any governmental purpose” except lobbying. It’s the last batch of federal aid payments that started in 2020.

The Haines Borough has received a total of $1.9 million in ARPA funds not including the final round.