Mat-Su sets aside $704,763 for opioid settlement grants, two-thirds of its total

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly approved a grant program Oct. 20 that will offer local organizations $704,763 in opioid settlement money for treatment, prevention, recovery and harm reduction work.

That's about two-thirds of what the borough has collected. Mat-Su joined the national opioid settlements in 2021 and had received about $1.06 million by August. It had spent $89,461 of that, on training and education grants and advertising, according to the program memo.

The settlements limit what the money can pay for, and so do the borough's own powers. As a second-class borough, Mat-Su lacked the power to provide general health and social services, direct medical care, housing or case management, among other things, for opioid prevention, treatment and recovery. That meant it would be "very difficult" for the borough to spend the money in ways both the settlements and its powers allow, a 2025 administration memo said. Houston, Wasilla and Palmer had each voted earlier that year to transfer limited health powers to the borough, only for spending settlement money, and the Assembly accepted them in August 2025.

Under the new program, organizations located in the borough that serve its residents can apply for up to $25,000 a year for three years, or $75,000 in all. Individuals can't apply. The work has to fit the national settlement's list of eligible uses, and each agency can file one application.

Staff and volunteers, including representatives from each city, will score the applications out of 100 points. Staff will then rank them and send recommendations to the Assembly for approval.

The money is meant to follow a split a borough needs assessment committee recommended in 2023. The committee held public meetings in Willow, Wasilla and Palmer, drew 257 survey responses and reported an average of 14 opioid overdose deaths a year in the borough from 2016 to 2020. The Assembly adopted its formula for the first five years of settlement money: 30% each for treatment and prevention, 10% each for recovery and harm reduction, and 20% for media.

In 2025 the Assembly cut the media share to 5% for the years after that, after the administration said 20%, about $160,000, was more than needed. The rest went to the other four areas. From the sixth year on, treatment and prevention get 35% each, and recovery and harm reduction 12.5% each. The media money will mostly pay for the borough to advertise the grants and publicize funded programs.

Staff will recommend awards that align with those percentages "to the extent practicable." The approach is intended to give funded organizations "flexibility to respond to client needs without requiring strict adherence to allocation percentages that could limit needed services," the memo says.

The borough expects about $150,000 a year in settlement payments, which run through 2038. After this round, about $267,000 remains. Staff recommend offering the grants every four years, which the memo says will let the fund support consistent awards over each three-year grant period. The 2023 committee had suggested an annual grant, with recipients reporting their progress each year.

The borough's first grants, a 2024 training and education round, offered up to $233,332 but drew $72,023 in requests from four nonprofits. The Assembly allocated $63,273:

• My House, $23,332

• Set Free Alaska, $16,217

• United Way of Matanuska-Susitna Borough, $12,500

• Adult & Teen Challenge Pacific Northwest, $11,224

In 2025 the borough put $21,000 toward peer support training for emergency responders.

The borough grants office will advertise the new round. The guidelines approved Oct. 20 don't yet list an application link, opening date or deadline.