On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly approved the use of federal coronavirus relief dollars to assist previously overlooked businesses and leverage additional funds from the Rasmuson Foundation for local arts and culture organizations.

Under the Municipal Arts and Culture Matching Grant Program, the Rasmuson Foundation offers a one-to-one match for the first $20,000 in CARES Act funds a municipality allocates for arts and culture organizations. After that, the foundation will match half the funds a municipality allocates up to $50,000. A municipality that contributes the maximum $50,000 under this program will receive a $35,000 match from the Rasmuson Foundation for its local cultural institutions.

In an effort to maximize the Rasmuson Foundation matching funds the assembly approved increasing funding for Chilkat Valley arts and culture organizations by just more than $16,000 during Tuesday’s regular meeting.

The assembly had voted to double funding for all nonprofit and small business grant program applicants up to a $10,000 cap, bringing CARES Act funding to $34,000 for local arts and culture organizations including the Foundation for the Chilkat Center, Lynn Canal Community Players, Haines Sheldon Museum, Alaska Arts Confluence, Alaska Native Brotherhood, Southeast Alaska State Fair and the American Bald Eagle Foundation. Prior to Tuesday, these organizations had been slated to receive roughly $17,000 through the CARES Act.

The $16,000 approved to maximize the Rasmuson Foundation match will be distributed among the arts and culture organizations in proportion to the amounts they have already received from the borough, as long as the organization is able to prove they have suffered economic damages from the pandemic greater than or equal to the amount they will receive.

In addition to the roughly tripled funding for arts and culture organizations and doubled funding for other small businesses and nonprofits, the assembly approved $1,000 grants for new businesses—ones that began prior to March 1 but were ineligible for the regular business grant program because they had no revenue in 2019.

The assembly also approved a program to award fishermen $500 per limited entry permit. Many local fishermen were ineligible for the borough’s original nonprofit and small business grant program because they lack business licenses. Borough chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart said the program for fishermen will cost roughly $65,000 if all permit holders apply.

The final program approved at Tuesday’s meeting is designed to incentivize local spending by offering $100 in gift cards for every $300 a person spends in town on nonessential purchases. Staff are working to set up the program.

The programs approved on Tuesday had been recommended earlier this month by the assembly’s CARES Act ad hoc committee. The committee meets next on Sept. 2 to discuss use of CARES Act dollars to fund a grant program for individuals and child care support.