From the publisher

There is no precise count but it looks like federal pandemic aid distributed or allocated over the past 18 months to Wrangell residents, businesses, the borough, school district, tribe and nonprofits totals close to $30 million.

That's about equal to all the income earned by every household in town in half a year, according to U.S. Census numbers.

It's almost three times the annual budget of the borough and school board combined.

Most of the money came as grants or simply as federal aid to keep communities and people solvent until the pandemic passes and the economy can go back to work. Some of it was no-interest or low-interest loans.

That's a lot of federal money that turned into local dollars.

And it did a lot of good. It helped the school district maintain staff and programs, despite a sharp drop in enrollment last year that cut deeply into its state funding. It helped the city make up for lost revenue from reduced sales tax receipts, fewer visitors paying to tour the museum, fewer cruise ships paying at the dock and fewer boats using The Marine Service Center.

The aid helped the borough pay for COVID-19 testing, buy supplies for the schools, cover police and fire payrolls, buy a new ambulance, and fund a marketing effort to help ensure visitors return to Wrangell as life returns closer to normal.

The combined $3,200 per person in pandemic relief aid distributed in 2020 and 2021 - three payments of up to $1,200, $600 and $1,400, depending on income - made a huge difference for households hit hard by the loss of work. And much of that money was spent at local businesses.

Grants and forgivable loans to businesses, including charter boat operators and commercial fishermen, along with nonprofits, totaled more than $8 million under last year's federal CARES Act.

The Wrangell Cooperative Association reports that its allocation under the CARES Act and this year's American Rescue Plan Act will total about $7.5 million.

The school district will receive more than $1 million, while the borough's share of the federal aid will total close to $5 million since the assistance started flowing last year.

Some of the help came directly from the U.S. Treasury, while some of it went first to the state which then shared it with communities.

And while Congress has taken a breather from handing out pandemic relief aid, programs continue to operate with the money at hand.

Help with rent and utility bills is ongoing. The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. has embarked on its third round of rental assistance, funded by federal dollars, after already sending out about $300,000 to help Wrangell households.

The state is now accepting applications for $90 million in new federally funded grants for businesses hit hardest by the loss of income during the pandemic.

Besides for money directly for Wrangell, the state is using some of its federal aid to help support the Alaska Marine Highway System for the next 18 months, expand tourism marketing and pay for free COVID-19 tests at Wrangell and many other airports around the state.

The point of reminding everyone of all the financial help from the federal government? Maybe just that anyone who wants to criticize federal spending, complain about the national debt and bemoan taxes needs to remember that while there certainly is waste and inefficiency in the budget, a lot of that money is helping Wrangell keep its head above the waters of a choppy couple of years.