On Monday, the Mat-Su Borough opened its third round of grants for small businesses and non-profits with money from the federal CARES Act. This round of funding will differ in a few important ways. First, the application period is open for two weeks, twice as long as the previous rounds. Second, applicants no longer need to have had a current business license as of January 1st. Instead, they merely need to be current at the time they apply. Finally, the cap for grants has been raised from $10,000 to $25,000.
Mat-Su Borough Assembly Member Stephanie Nowers has taken the lead on much of the borough’s CARES Act processes. She says businesses and non-profits that have already applied do not need to do so again to be in consideration for a larger grant award, but that other factors may prevent the full $25,000 from being given.
“Those who are eligible will receive the additional amound and be notified by the borough….The maximum grant is still twenty percent of your gross revenues based on your 2019 tax return.”
As of Friday, the borough had given out just over $5 million in grants out of the $13 million allocated for small businesses and non-profits.
The second type of grant the borough will be making available will reimburse borough residents for extra expenses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assembly Member Nowers says that program should begin soon.
“It’s going to be in October, likely in the first two weeks. The hold-up is just making sure we have everything set up right on the back end, so that when we open, it runs smoothly….”
The borough has allocated enough funding to give every man, woman, and child who received a permanent fund dividend $100, but there will be an application process in order to receive the money. Assembly Member Nowers explains that has to do with federal regulation.
“It has to be COVID-related…. I know some people will be like, ‘Why can’t you just send a check to everybody who got a permanent fund dividend?’ If we did that, we’d be at risk for the federal government saying we didn’t comply with the guidelines, and they could take the money back.”
When the borough received its CARES Act funding, it got split, more or less into thirds. One third went to small business grants, one to individual grants, and the third to borough services and operations. What money doesn’t get spent in the grants could also end up in that third category. Assembly Member Nowers hopes that funding will help buffer borough taxpayers in the next budget.
“If we end up in a budget crunch, the last thing I want to do is see property taxes go up again. So, if there’s a way to be able to cover some of those expenses, and the residents don’t have to pay that through property tax, I see that as a benefit.”
Nowers also says the borough has been looking for allowable ways to spend the CARES Act funds on longer-term spending and infrastructure, but it has been difficult.
“That’s the other thing we’ve really tried to keep an eye out for is ways to build infrastructure like that, but in a lot of ways we’re limited to just what’s right in front of us during the pandemic.”
One place where infrastructure spending has been allowed is on computers and internet capabilities. COVID-19 has forced a great deal more working from home, so the spending is allowed under federal rules.
No matter which of the three areas in which the borough is spending CARES Act money, they are up against a deadline of December 30th. While it is possible Congress could extend that deadline or provide more funds, it’s far from a certainty. Assemble Member Nowers says the borough is preparing for multiple contingencies, but is currently planning on being finished by the end of the year.
You can find information about the small business grant program and sign up to be notified when the individual grants go live at MSBCares.matsugov.us.
