The Haines Borough received 137 applications from businesses and nonprofits for CARES Act grant funding before the July 10 deadline, totaling about $388,000 toward the $850,000 set aside for the program. Looking to attract more applicants, the borough assembly voted Tuesday to extend the deadline to July 31.

“I am hoping you guys will consider putting it out there again,” Jila Stuart, the borough’s chief fiscal officer, asked the assembly, which voted unanimously to give businesses and nonprofits two more weeks to apply.

Stuart, and several assembly members, discussed how some potential applicants likely declined to seek borough funding for fear that the local grant could jeopardize their eligibility for a larger grant through a state program, AK CARES.

The state program, administered under contract by Credit Union 1, has been embroiled in controversy over the state’s decision that an applicant’s acceptance of any other CARES Act funding, such as municipal programs, could make the business ineligible for the state grant.

The state is reconsidering its rules and some changes are expected, or at least further clarification of the issue to allow multiple grant applications.

For those who already have applied for the Haines program, the grants, ranging from $500 to $10,000, should start going out before the end of the month, Stuart said.

About 90% of the 137 applications came from businesses, with 14 submitted by nonprofits, Stuart said. The size of the check will be based on each applicant’s gross revenues in 2019, ranging from a $500 payment to applicants with up to $25,000 in revenues last year (30 applications), to $10,000 for applicants with more than $1 million in revenues (nine applications).

“We designed it to be pretty easy to process,” Stuart said of the application. Staff will review the submissions, then send out notification letters with a one- or two-page grant agreement for the recipient to sign before the checks go out.

The borough will ask grant recipients to save records of how they spend the money, in case the information is needed for a later audit.

The assembly Tuesday accepted staff recommendations to amend the eligibility requirements so that applicants who had neglected to renew their business license for 2020 by the program’s March 1 deadline could still qualify for a grant with their 2019 license.

Stuart explained that a “handful” of applicants had missed the license deadline. “They had their heads somewhere else in the winter,” she said.

The state of Alaska is sharing $569 million with cities and boroughs — almost half of the $1.25 billion the state will receive under the federal CARES Act — to help communities deal with the economic damages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every city and borough is distributing its share of the money somewhat differently, including as grants to businesses, nonprofits or individuals; to help with utility bills, rent and mortgages; or to help cover the additional costs of police and emergency health services.

Haines will receive about $4 million in CARES Act funding through the state.

Under the rules for the Haines program, businesses and nonprofits can use the grants to help with most anything related to the public health emergency and its hit to their operations, including payroll, rent, utilities and personal protective equipment. All of the money must be spent by Dec. 30, according to federal rules.

Applicants must have been in operation in Haines as of March 1 to qualify.

In addition to the business and nonprofit grant program, the assembly last month set aside $100,000 for food assistance, $58,000 to expand the meals service at the Haines Senior Center, $300,000 to help with utility bills, $278,000 for a new ambulance, and funds to cover the borough’s coronavirus-related expenses.

In other discussion at Tuesday’s assembly meeting, Stuart reported that she and the interim borough manager would draft proposals for programs to assist individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic — such as helping with utility bills, rent or moorage — and report back to the assembly’s ad hoc committee on CARES Act funding later this month.

The ad hoc committee also will consider requests for funding from Airlift Northwest for its air ambulance services, the Southeast Alaska State Fair, the Alaska Municipal League, and food security programs.