At its Tuesday meeting, officials will also see a new proposal to repurpose an old solid waste facility as a navigation center in the city’s homelessness response.
applies $957,000 in the municipality’s alcohol tax revenue left over from last winter to this year’s needs, specifically to toward standing up a short-term emergency shelter. That item will not be up for public testimony or a vote for at least two weeks.
As federal support tapered off, local officials have been struggling to reestablish the municipality’s role in providing homelessness assistance while still paying for the other city services. “The reality is, our city budget has never adequately addressed emergency shelter, and we have little room to shift local funds without significantly impacting other public services,” Brawley said in a statement put out Monday from several Assembly members.
A common area inside the old Solid Waste Services administration building, photographed on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023 in Anchorage.