Anchorage Assembly weighs $2.2 million more for shelter surge beds

Anchorage would raise spending limits on its two shelter contracts by about $2.2 million to cover surge beds opened last winter and again this fall. Surge beds are temporary extra beds. Both amendments are routine items on the Anchorage Assembly's consent agenda for Oct. 6.

The money has not yet been appropriated. Both memos say funding is "subject to appropriation by the Assembly of funds put forward in AR 2026-262," a separate resolution on the same agenda. It is a public hearing continued from Sept. 15, so residents can testify; phone testimony requires signing up at muni.org/testimony by 5 p.m. the day before. That resolution would spend $2.8 million in state Community Assistance Program revenue, setting aside $1,355,804 for shelter operations and winter surge capacity. The documents do not reconcile that figure with the roughly $2.2 million in contract increases.

MASH Property Management's not-to-exceed amount would rise $1.13 million, to $6.6 million. That is its spending ceiling. The Anchorage Health Department says that covers lifting the shelter's 100-person maximum to 150 from Jan. 1 to April 30 and again from Sept. 14 to Dec. 31. Henning Inc.'s would rise $1.04 million for the same two periods, to nearly $6 million. Health Department Director Kimberly Rash recommended both amendments.

Municipal oversight reports place Henning at the E. 56th Avenue Shelter and MASH at Linda's Place. Those reports recorded 200 beds at E. 56th and 150 at Linda's Place during parts of last winter. By late August, each held 100.

Both contracts have grown since the Assembly approved them on July 29, 2025. Henning's began at about $1.05 million. This would mark its fifth amendment. The administration issued waivers of Title 7, the municipal purchasing code, before executing two smaller increases of $43,938 and $23,015 in December 2025. The Assembly approved a $500,000 increase in July. MASH's contract began at $1.37 million, and this would be its third amendment. Its second added $228,420 for a surge in late October 2025.

The fall surge period the money would cover runs through Dec. 31.