Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Jefferson County befittingly distributed the last batch of its CARES-Act funding to a group of local businesses and nonprofits/not-for-profits just before the Christmas holidays.
The final distribution of checks on Friday, Dec. 18, went to seven businesses and two nonprofits/not-for-profits, according to Katrina Richardson, executive director of the Monticello-Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, where the distribution took place.
All told, as earlier reported by Property Appraiser Angela Gray to the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday evening, Dec. 17, the county distributed $974,692 in CARES-Act funding to local businesses and nonprofits/not-for-profits.
Gray is a member of the commission-appointed committee that oversaw the stimulus money’s distribution, in conjunction with the hired consultant firm of Government Services Group (GSG).
A breakdown of the total distribution, as Gray presented it to commissioners, showed that 83 businesses and nonprofits/not-for-profits applied for the funding, of which 70 qualified.
Of the 70, Gray said, 50 were long-established businesses, which received a combined $839,692; nine were newer businesses, which received a total of $80,000; and 11 were nonprofits/not-for-profits, which received a total of $55,000.
Additionally, 30 or so individuals were approved for, or received, funding for mortgage, rental or utility assistance, while others were yet being processed. The amount distributed in this category as of last week was $88,903.18.
Gray explained that a key difference between the two groups was that, whereas businesses got the money directly after signing an affidavit attesting that the money would be used in accordance with the rules and understanding that they could be subject to audits, the individual assistance payments went directly to the landlord, mortgage or utility company, or whatever other provider.
Gray informed commissioners that a small amount of the CARES-Act funding yet remained in reserve, for which money the Jefferson County Health Department had submitted a late application.
The Health Department, she said, wanted to use the money to purchase a freezer to store the coronavirus vaccines that it expected to receive. The cost of the freezer was $12,617.
Given the freezer’s high price tag, Commissioner Chris Tuten questioned if it would have any use once the pandemic passed. He was assured that it would. Also, Gray said, the department had no choice, as it had tried in vain to rent such a unit or share another organization’s.
The commission approved the expenditure without further discussion.
Meanwhile, David Johosky, with GSG, assured the commission that the county had submitted all the necessary documentation to the state in terms of the CARES-Act money distribution and was about to submit the final paperwork for reimbursement.
“The checks should be cut within a couple of weeks or early in 2021,” he said.
All told, Jefferson County received about $1.6 million in CARES-Act funding to help local businesses and homeowners adversely impacted by the pandemic.
The money was part of a greater amount that Jefferson County was slated to receive as its portion of the $1.275 billion that the federal government allocated to Florida’s 55 counties with populations of less than 50,000 residents for economic recovery.
Some $700,000-plus of Jefferson County’s $1.6 million went to the community’s emergency first responders and schools for costs that these entities had incurred directly or indirectly as a result of the pandemic.
The CARES-Act, more formally known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, was a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package that the federal government enacted in early 2020 to mitigate some of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting business shutdowns and lost jobs.