The Haines Borough Assembly delayed a vote on the budget Tuesday, postponing decisions about whether to allocate more funding to the pool, museum, economic development corporation, avalanche center and Porcupine Road maintenance.

There is also a new budget amendment on the table to set aside about $82,000 for nonprofits, which would apply for funding through a competitive application process.

The assembly will hold a third public hearing and vote on the budget on June 14. Members agreed to delay the vote this week in part because the borough administration’s labor negotiations are ongoing and the state budget hasn’t been finalized.

The collective bargaining agreement could impact payroll expenses and Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s pen strokes on the budget, which the legislature just passed, could impact state funding.

Assembly member Debra Schnabel made a series of motions to increase spending on a number of institutions, including an additional $60,000 for the Haines Sheldon Museum; $54,000 for the Haines Pool and $15,000 for Haines Economic Development Corporation (HEDC). All of her motions were delayed until June 14.

Assembly member Tyler Huling made a motion, also postponed to June 14, to fund the Haines Avalanche Center with $24,000.

The avalanche center currently isn’t included as a budget item but would be eligible to apply for a competitive pool of funding — of an amount still to be determined — that will be set aside for nonprofits. Huling said she favored funding the center on its own because it “provides both really crucial winter tourism promotion as well as a very important public safety function.”

Assembly member Schnabel proposed allocating $82,155 from the borough’s emergency fund for nonprofits. The borough saved that money during the pandemic when federal coronavirus relief covered expenses for emergency services.

Borough manager Annette Kreitzer suggested using the emergency fund as nonprofit funding instead of $126,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that assembly member Schnabel initially suggested could go to nonprofits.

Kreitzer said the ARPA funding — part of a federal covid stimulus package — was set aside potentially for expenses from the collective bargaining agreement as it was “sent to communities to deal with salaries, especially first responders.”

Assembly member Cheryl Stickler voiced caution about using one-time federal funding for nonprofits. “I’m hoping we can keep in mind that we are tasked with passing a balanced budget. I believe we can do that this year, but we’re doing it with a lot of support from state and federal revenue sources that aren’t going to follow us into the future,” she said. “If this (nonprofit funding as proposed by Schnabel) does happen this year, it’s not going to fix us long-term in how we budget our money.”

Assembly member Caitie Kirby said if the assembly sets aside the $82,000 for nonprofits, “I would want the public to know this isn’t going to be the same amount every single year.”

As with the other budget amendments Tuesday, the assembly postponed a decision about how much and from what source to fund nonprofits.

Assembly member Stickler made a motion, delayed like the others, to appropriate $20,000 from the tourism and economic development fund for maintenance of Porcupine Road, which has struggled with flood damage.

“It is within the borough’s interest to help support the infrastructure there because it is a subsistence area. So many borough residents go out to harvest berries, moose, bears,” Stickler said. “Even though it’s within an RMSA (road maintenance service area), it’s kind of its own unique animal because of how it’s situated…because it generates areawide interest and areawide use.” She added that various industries — mining, logging and tourism — use the road.

Public facilities director Ed Coffland said four maintenance projects are already planned for Porcupine Road and will likely be funded by FEMA. Two are planned for this summer – to reconstruct ditches and resurface six and a half miles of the road.

The assembly’s vote on June 14 will cap off a budget cycle marked by public calls to keep the pool open year-round and to spend more on the museum.

Schnabel’s motions would fund the pool for 12 months and would help the museum afford a full-time curator — a position that, according to museum business and grants manager Burl Sheldon, is required to stay eligible for accreditation.

“Without a full-time trained professional at the helm, there will not be accreditation in the future, and to have to dig back and somehow claw that back will be a real unfortunate situation,” Sheldon told the assembly.

At its last meeting, the assembly voted 4-2 against a motion by Schnabel to raise property taxes by .21 mills to pay for the museum’s curator position.