Tarrant County still has money available from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, but commissioners say some businesses and renters are having trouble navigating the system. Tarrant County received $210 million this summer and still has almost $75 million available.
Tarrant County has been using the money for four items: COVID-19 testing; economic stimulus, providing grants to small businesses; social services, including rental assistance; and to assist non-profits dealing with increased demand.
The deadline to apply for rental assistance is December 9, and Tarrant County must approve the funding by the end of the year.
"The rental assistance has just been the slowest process," says Tarrant County Commissioner Gary Fickes. "A lot of these people, they're just not paying rent. They haven't paid any rent from the beginning. A lot of people are back to work, but they're not paying rent. There's going to be a lot of issues at the end of the year over evictions."
Fickes says Tarrant County is trying to work with renters filling out applications, but the county has had to deny some applications because the renter does not have the documentation required by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
"We've got to be very careful on any taxpayer dollars we give out that we're following the rules," he says. "If we're not following the rules, the federal government can come back to the county and make us pay that money back. We're, in all likelihood, not going to be able to go see Mr. or Mrs. Smith, who we gave $4,000 in rental assistance and she didn't fill something out and we didn't catch it. She doesn't have that money. We're the ones they're going to look at to pay it back."
In addition to rental assistance, Tarrant County has been using Coronavirus Relief Fund money to help small businesses. A second round of grant applications closed November 10 and will be awarded on an ongoing basis.
Fickes says Tarrant County worked with Chambers of Commerce to award small business grants. In the first round of grants, he says about 2,000 businesses received money. In the second round of grants, he says the county expanded eligibility to locally owned locations of franchise businesses.
The grants excluded businesses in the City of Fort Worth, which has received its own allocation from the Treasury Department.
Monday, North Texas hospitals had 2,435 COVID-19 patients, representing 16.13% of capacity, remaining above 15% capacity for four straight days. If the region stays above 15% capacity for a week, an order by Governor Greg Abbott would require bars to close and restaurants to limit capacity to 50%.
Fickes says the potential for additional restrictions highlights the need for small businesses and renters to start the process now if they might need help.
"COVID is an all-dominating issue right now across the country, around the world. Tarrant County is no exception," he says. "We have to get this under control. We have to minimize the effect of this outbreak until we can get everybody vaccinated."
Fickes says the incoming Biden Administration may make changes to the policy, but right now, Tarrant County must prepare to return any unused funding to the federal government after the first of the year.
