Anchorage would restore shelter capacity the alcohol tax shortfall cut

Anchorage would restore $1 million of homeless shelter surge capacity, cut this year when alcohol tax revenue fell short, and add about $1.36 million for fourth-quarter operations, under a resolution the Anchorage Assembly read into the record Tuesday, Sept. 1.

The money is $2,813,529 in State of Alaska Community Assistance Program revenue, a state payment to municipalities the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development calculates once the state budget is final. The state confirmed $4,379,260 for Anchorage, $2,813,529 more than the municipality budgeted.

The remaining $457,725 comes out of that total rather than adding to it, and pays to set up the Health Department's electronic health records system plus three months of subscription.

Nolan Clowder of the Mayor's Office told the Assembly's Budget and Finance Committee-of-the-Whole on May 21 that the amount swings. "Anchorage been getting somewhere in the ballpark of sometimes up around $5 million, sometimes $4 million, sometimes in the few hundred thousand dollar range," Clowder said.

At that briefing, the 2026 Point-in-Time Count, an annual tally of people sleeping outside, recorded 291, down 28% from 2025, with municipal shelters at 100% capacity. Administration officials estimated Anchorage needs 100 additional year-round shelter beds, at $2.45 million a year.

The Assembly takes public testimony on the resolution Sept. 15.