After pressure, Sarasota County eases COVID-19 relief requirements again

SARASOTA COUNTY – After numerous stumbles and heavy criticism from area nonprofits and businesses, Sarasota County is again adjusting the process to apply for federal coronavirus relief funding with a goal of distributing more money faster. 

But the progress comes after significant pushback from residents, and, on Thursday, from County Commissioner Charles Hines, who blasted the county’s sluggish and complicated application process that had led to so many complaints. 

Sarasota County was one of the last of Florida’s 55 counties with populations below 500,000 to begin distributing funding. The argument early on about the county’s complex process and slow pace was the county would protect itself if a business misspent the money and to learn from other local governments’ mistakes. 

“It seems just the opposite,” said Hines, a local business and commercial attorney, of the county’s strategy. “I feel like today, we are creating the wheel. I don’t understand that.” 

Sarasota County will now model its coronavirus relief program after Manatee County’s. Sarasota’s plan now allows nonprofits and businesses seeking to simply attest that they were hurt by the pandemic. Previously, to qualify for $20,000 in federal money, applicants had to supply a tangle of receipts and bank statements. 

Another major change: The county is now offering grants of up to $50,000. 

“I hope we get a loud and clear message to staff: We want this money out as quickly as possible,” said Commission Chairman Michael Moran. 

Sarasota County’s pivot on Thursday comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state’s distribution plan for the second round of CARES Act funding. To qualify, counties must show the state how much they spent and formulate a plan for how to spend additional money. 

Manatee County’s requirements are less ambiguous than Sarasota County’s initial process and facilitated distribution of thousands of dollars to struggling residents. Sarasota County’s was so complicated that it required a 24 page how-to guide to help residents navigate it. 

Hines took issue with the county’s external and internal legal team and other advisers who helped shape a program that has led to intense frustration from the business and nonprofit community. 

“I struggle with who you’ve put in place to run this,” Hines said, noting that few involved with the process had any business experience. 

Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, the county’s outside legal counsel, Nabors Giblin and Nickerson, resisted the county’s changes, recommending even stricter requirements or for the program to remain as it was. 

But the process left many prospective applicants wary of applying and created a number of barriers, particularly for small businesses owners who did not have access to certified public accountants or lawyers.

More:Sarasota County made seeking COVID-19 relief so hard, many struggling businesses gave up

“One thing you didn’t see is how distraught and emotionally paralyzed business owners and individuals are,” said Christine Robinson, a former county commissioner and executive director of the Argus Foundation, a business group, told commissioners on Thursday. 

The nonprofit was one of many to put pressure on the county to make changes and served as a resource for area residents. 

“It only adds to it when you have a complicated application process,” Robinson said. 

To date, the county has distributed $314,000 to businesses and nonprofits and $48,000 for individual assistance for those who applied for rental or mortgage assistance. The county no longer tracks the number of individuals or businesses who have received funding on its dashboard.

In other action

The County Commission on Thursday cobbled together a plan to allocate the remaining 75% of the Sarasota County CARES Act funding. Included in that action was roughly $57 million in relief spending all the relief CARES ACT categories (health and medical, economic recovery, food water and shelter and safety and security), as well as administrative oversight for the program.

The county is also working on a plan to allocate money to Visit Sarasota County and the arts community to help with economic recovery efforts. That includes $5 million for the Sarasota Arts and Cultural sector to provide substantial relief from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.