Alaska towns have a month left to apply for up to $850,000 in federal block grants

Alaska communities have one month left to apply for a share of about $2.5 million in federal Community Development Block Grants, and the state holds its last workshop on how to apply on Tuesday.

The grants are competitive, and each community can get up to $850,000 for a single project. The grants are paid for by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and handed out by the state Division of Community and Regional Affairs, which said in September that the roughly $2.5 million includes money left over from past years.

Any city or borough in Alaska except Anchorage can apply. Nonprofits and Native village councils can apply alongside their local government. Applications are due Dec. 4, and the state expects to announce winners in February.

This year, housing is newly on the list of projects the grants can pay for, with limits. Only community-based development organizations can use the money for new construction, and a community could put no more than about $170,000 of a single grant toward building housing.

Federal rules require that at least 51% of the people who benefit be low- or moderate-income.

Tuesday's workshop, from 1 to 4 pm at HUD's Anchorage office and online, will walk through who's eligible, what projects qualify, what an application needs and the timeline, according to the division's announcement. It's the state's final workshop for this round.

Applications have to go through the state's online grants system. The division no longer takes paper applications.