The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED), Division of Community and Regional Affairs has awarded a total of $50 million to forty-one Alaska municipalities in grants for local governments with significant revenue loss due to COVID-19.
These Local Government Lost Revenue Relief funds will enable Alaska cities and boroughs, whose revenues were most affected by the pandemic and subsequent economic downturn, to partially replace this lost revenue and continue to provide local government services and projects.
DCCED Commissioner Julie Sande said:
“Many of Alaska’s local governments were severely impacted by the pandemic. By distributing these federal funds under U.S. Treasury guidelines, we can assist Alaska cities and boroughs to provide vital services like water, sewer, fire, police, and roads.”
Grants were awarded to cities and boroughs across the state. The grant distribution prioritized municipalities that suffered the highest percentage of revenue losses in the calendar year 2020, according to the federal formula provided by the United States Department of the Treasury for state and local lost revenue relief. The threshold for significant revenue loss was set at 10 percent.
The Local Government Lost Revenue Relief grant funds were made available to local governments through an appropriation of $50 million from the State’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds in Governor Dunleavy’s Fiscal Year 2022 Operating Budget: House Bill 69.