DCRA outlines grants portfolio, local-government assistance and staffing limits

The Division of Community and Regional Affairs (DCRA) told the Alaska House Community and Regional Affairs Committee that it administers a broad set of community services and grant programs and that staffing limits constrain how fast the division can deploy new funds.

Director Sandra Moller, who introduced DCRA’s responsibilities, said the division concentrates on “maximum local self government,” pointing to Article X, Section 1 of the Alaska Constitution as the basis for advising and assisting local governments.

DCRA’s presentation described three main buckets of work: mapping/analytics and a public community database; local-government assistance (including local boundary work and elections support); and a portfolio of grants and funding programs. The division said it currently administers 22 legacy grant programs and recently began administering additional disaster-recovery and broadband awards. The director said the total value of grants DCRA manages is roughly $120 million under its legacy programs and that the division expects to assume responsibility for additional programs that would increase the total to about $1.2–2 billion in administrated grant funds as those programs come online.

Why it matters: DCRA acts as the state’s technical and grant-administration interface for hundreds of municipalities across Alaska. Its capacity to manage awards, approve subgrants and provide technical assistance affects how quickly communities can move projects for water, sewer, broadband and disaster recovery from planning to construction.

Key details from the presentation

- Grants portfolio and staffing: DCRA said it maintains roughly 22 existing grant programs. Director Moller said the division currently has a grants team of about 12 positions, with two vacancies the department is recruiting to fill. Grant administrators are primarily located in Anchorage and Fairbanks. DCRA described plans to expand project-coordinator capacity for disaster-recovery grants.

- Disaster recovery and new programs: DCRA said it currently administers disaster recovery grants covering the 2018 Southcentral earthquake and the 2022 Merbok storm and that it recently received notice of additional federal disaster funds for Yukon flooding and a Juneau event. The division also identified broadband awards and a food-security grant round (33 awards totaling about $1.5 million) as immediate activities.

- Mapping and data: DCRA described the Community Database Online (CDO) as a central, publicly accessible repository for community profiles, basic GIS layers and a fuel-price report. The division said a community-mapping program has produced useful baseline maps for infrastructure projects but that it lacks steady funding to continue large-scale mapping services.

- Local-government assistance: DCRA staff serve as local-government specialists in regional offices (Kotzebue, Nome, Bethel, Dillingham, Juneau, Fairbanks, Anchorage). The division explained the Local Boundary Commission’s role in petitions, reclassifications and borough formation, and said it provides hands-on technical assistance for elections, budgeting and utility best-practice work.

Committee questions and clarifications

- Representative Refridge asked how the Local Boundary Commission fits under local government assistance; DCRA said the LBC provides both boundary-review functions and practical assistance when communities consider reclassification or borough formation.

- Representatives pressed DCRA on staffing adequacy. Director Moller said the division is working to improve processes (including a new grant-management system rolled out for broadband grants) and to add project coordinators for disaster recovery; she described an emphasis on process improvements to stretch existing staff capacity.

- On one category of previously awarded funds — federal coronavirus capital projects administered through the governor’s office and assigned to DCRA for execution — DCRA said it did not participate in the selection process and only manages projects after approval. DCRA cited an example project that included clinic and fire-hall funding and said the set of awards included completed renovations and new construction across roughly a dozen to a score of projects.

Clarifying details (as presented or asked for in the meeting)

- Count of grant programs described as legacy programs: 22 (category: grants_count). - Director’s illustrative totals: “roughly $120,000,000” for legacy portfolio and an additional set of incoming programs that could raise administered programs toward $1.2–2,000,000,000 (category: grant_portfolio_total_usd; approximate: true). - Current grant-administration staffing for grants: 12 positions, with 2 vacancies (category: personnel_count; source_speaker: Sandra Moller). - Local government specialists working directly with communities: about 17 field specialists (category: personnel_count; approximate: true). - Community Assistance / revenue-sharing context: DCRA and committee members discussed that the Community Assistance (formerly “revenue sharing”) program distributions and capitalization have changed over time; committee members cited $90,000,000 as a full-capitalization benchmark discussed later in the hearing (category: funding_context; approximate: true).

No formal committee votes were recorded during the presentation. The committee and staff identified follow-up items: DCRA agreed to supply additional details about some processes (for example, selection process for the coronavirus capital projects it now administers) and to provide success-story materials and fiscal details on grant portfolios.

Ending: The committee moved on to a second presentation after DCRA concluded. DCRA’s presentation left open several follow-up requests from members for staff-level details on grant selection, grant-administration capacity and the division’s disaster-recovery staffing plan.