Seminole, Osceola worried they haven’t seen more federal virus relief dollars

A day after Osceola County Chairwoman Viviana Janer said Gov. Ron DeSantis’ delay in sending federal pandemic relief money to Florida’s smaller counties was “unacceptable,” the governor released a plan to disperse at least some of the remaining funds.

But on Monday, Janer and officials in nearby Seminole County expressed concerns that they still may only see a portion of the dollars promised in a congressional plan to help relieve the financial strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our residents are at a disadvantage to those larger counties who were able to get 100% [of the funds] right away,” Janer said. “The need is greater than the dollars we have.”

DeSantis’ office announced late Friday that another $255 million will be spread among the 55 counties in the state with fewer than 500,000 people.

But that amount, when paired with the $319 million already distributed by the state, is still less than half of the $1.275 billion Congress designated to the Florida counties under the relief package known as the CARES Act.

While Florida’s 12 largest counties received their entire allotments of cash from Congress up front to pay for small business grants and mortgage and rent relief for families, the state’s small and mid-sized counties had to wait for the state to act as a middleman and have received only about a quarter of their money so far from DeSantis’ office.

In Seminole County, officials said the wait is hurting residents who need more relief as unemployment has ballooned since the start of the pandemic.

“The Governor’s delay to fully communicate a plan to disburse the remaining 75% is hampering dollars from going out to our community. This is an issue of equity that is putting our citizens at a disadvantage,” County Manager Nicole Guillet said in an email. “Seminole County is very concerned. At this point, we have three months left to disburse these dollars. Any further delay in receipt of these funds will hamper our ability to take maximum advantage of the CARES Act money to benefit this community.”

Seminole, which has a population of about 470,000, was expecting about $82 million in relief money, but so far has seen just $20 million. County officials already earmarked the dollars for its seven cities, constitutional offices, the public school districts and charity groups, but hasn’t been able to move forward with all of those payments.

Meanwhile in Osceola, which has nearly 400,000 people, leaders received $16 million of the $66 million they were told they would receive as part of the relief program.

Janer said she isn’t sure how much money her county will see in this second wave announced by DeSantis, but anticipates any dollars will be used to continue helping residents pay rent or mortgages, provide grants to small businesses and contribute to food banks. Osceola has the highest rate of job losses in the state and, according to Census data, nearly a quarter of Osceola families with children under 18 live below the poverty line.

In the plan released late last week, DeSantis’ administration said counties will need to provide documentation of how the federal money was spent so far and how the counties plan to spend new money. DeSantis also said any additional money would come in the form of reimbursements to local governments, “because the State of Florida is responsible for repaying the federal government any funds used by counties on ineligible expenditures.”

Guillet said that would further strain Seminole’s budget.

“Without clear direction and a clear guarantee that the full allocation will be directed to Seminole County, as it was to the other 12 counties, Seminole County is not in a position to front the remaining $62 million,” she said.

Under the $2 trillion relief plan approved by Congress, Florida counties were given $3.75 billion.

Counties with a population of at least 500,000 residents were able to get their funds directly from Washington, allowing larger jurisdictions like Orange County to quickly receive its $243 million to get a jump start on providing personal protective equipment, grants to small businesses, as well as aiding residents with mortgages, rents.

Lake County which has about 380,000 people and nearly exhausted the $16 million it received from the first round of CARES Act, is expecting $48 million more.

Leslie Campione, chairwoman of the Lake County Board of County Commissioners, said the county is finalizing a spending plan for a new allotment and is optimistic that Lake will receive the dollars in the next wave of disbursements.

The county’s plan includes replenishing rental and mortgage assistance funds, adding to a business assistance program and reimbursing Lake cities for their COVID-19 sanitation expenses, Campione said. She said the county would like to increase the amount of assistance it is offering both to individuals and businesses.

“We’re going to be conservative about it as we usually are in Lake County,” Campione said.

rygillespie@orlandosentinel, shudak@orlandosentinel