The Haines Borough budget for the coming year will amount to “putting a size 9 foot into a size 8½ shoe,” borough manager Mark Earnest told a joint meeting of the assembly and school board Tuesday.

“You won’t get gangrene, but it won’t be comfortable,” Earnest said. “It’s going to be a challenge, but we can get through.”

The budget, drawn up each year by the borough manager, is due out at the end of March. Earnest declined to cite numbers, saying it’s early in the process.

In an interview after the meeting, Earnest said he expects “belt-tightening,” an increase of fees for services and use of some reserve funds will be necessary to fund the spending plan.

“There’s no major game changer in this year’s budget. There’s no major ups or downs, but there’s some adjustment up and down,” he said.

Earnest said the borough needs to look at ways to increase revenues, including securing more cruise ship dockings and increasing the numbers of customers using the Lutak Dock, possibly by courting trade ties to the Yukon Territory.

Twenty-five additional dockings by large cruise ships per year would result in $250,000 more in borough revenues from the cruise ship head tax, plus additional dock revenues, he said.

The deadline for non-profit requests for funding from the borough budget is March 15.