The Haines Borough Administration building. (Emily Files)
The Haines Borough has begun accepting applications for financial assistance to help pay utility bills, moorage fees and rent. The $1,000 payments administered by the borough are the latest form of federal COVID-19 relief.
The Haines Borough will receive $4 million in three payments from the CARES Act, a federal stimulus program that aims to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The borough has already received the first installment of $2 million and will have to spend 80% of that before it can get the next payment. At a town hall meeting Thursday night, Haines Borough Finance Officer Jila Stuart gave an overview of how the money will be used and how much has been spent already.
“To date, the borough had spent $514,000 of that money. So we have $1,632,000 left of that first payment,” Stuart said.
The Haines Borough Assembly has a plan for how to use that money. They dedicated about $1 million for emergency expenses such as a new ambulance, improvements to the morgue, COVID-19 testing, and local free meal programs.
The remaining funds are reserved for two different types of financial assistance for locals. $850,000 was set aside to provide grants to local businesses and nonprofits that suffered financial losses due to the pandemic. Stuart said that businesses have applied for about half of that money so far.
“We have received 171 applications totaling $443,000 worth of requests from the businesses and nonprofits. We’ve cut about 60 checks so far and we are cutting another roughly 25 tomorrow. We’re trying to get that money out the door quickly,” Stuart said.
The final $300,000 of the first CARES Act payment is intended to help residents pay their bills. Any household that suffered an economic hardship due to the pandemic is eligible for financial assistance. The borough assembly has indicated that if there is enough demand it will increase the amount of funding for financial assistance when it receives the next CARES Act payment.
Stuart explained that each household in the borough can apply for up to $1,000 to use on waste disposal, utility bills, moorage fees, and rent.
“Those funds are paid directly to the utility, the landlord or the borough for moorage.”
Applications for household financial assistance are available online through August 14th. Only one application will be accepted per residence. Staff at the library will be available during the times below to help residents complete the application.
Monday 10AM – 2PM
Tuesday 10AM – 12PM
Wednesday 3PM – 5PM
Thursday 1:15PM – 3:15PM
Saturday 12:30PM-4:30PM (all open hours)
Sunday August 9 12:30PM-4:30PM
