Unalaska keeps awarding more grant money than its formula produces

Unalaska's Community Support Grant program has been awarding more money than its own funding formula produces. On Aug. 25 the council changed the audit rules and left the formula alone.

Eight nonprofits asked for $2,252,752 in fiscal 2027, up from $1,501,714 three years earlier. The council awarded the full amount in April.

The formula sets available money at 3.5 percent of the city's five-year average General Fund revenue, plus the balances of the bed tax and tobacco excise tax funds. "Total requests of the program have risen significantly, often exceeding the amount indicated by the funding guideline," Planning Director Cameron Dean wrote on Aug. 11.

The concern is not new. Then-City Manager William Homka wrote in June 2025 that he was "concerned about the sustainability of the City's Community Support Grant program." Staff have told the council the formula will keep falling short unless revenue rises or requests fall.

What the council did change was auditing. The old rule required a full audit of any award over $25,000, a threshold in place since at least 2011. The new tiers require none below $40,000, a less expensive review up to $300,000, and a full audit above that. One recipient told the city that audits already eat 13 percent of its award.

Staff had also proposed pulling health care into a separate grant category. The council did not adopt that. The full text of the resolution is not yet public, so precisely which other provisions changed is not established.