By FRED SWIFT
Eligible businesses, non-profit community assistance organizations and agencies of county government will likely be able to apply for COVID relief funds in August. The exact date must await a distribution and application plan approved by county commissioners on Aug. 9 and creation of a county website for applicants to use.
Nearly $63 million in federally granted funds will be available, but businesses and organizations must document lost revenue that can be attributed to the pandemic.
County commissioners, representatives of the county council, and county auditor’s office met Tuesday to review their plan for proceeding with the distribution. On the surface the plan to proceed is simple, but a detailed written plan must be submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department following local approval.
Officials are not yet certain when an application website can be prepared, but it will get immediate attention from the county’s ISS, central computer department, according to Grants Administrator Todd Clevenger.
The county earlier granted about $3 million of the relief money to essential employees who worked at-risk last year.
The spending of the remaining money will be determined over the next two years. Guidelines in federal legislation must be followed and are bound to bring some questions on eligibility, but certain rules are clear.
No funds shall go toward capital projects and no individuals are eligible to receive funds.
Cities and towns received their own grants in addition to the county’s $65.5 million. But, the county funds can apparently be granted to eligible businesses and organizations countywide that can prove revenue losses due to the pandemic.