Millions in CARES funding still available to Nye County communities

Earlier this year, Nye County was allocated more than $8.4 million in federal CARES Act dollars and with more than $7 million left to spend by the end of the year, county officials are urging the public to apply for the opportunity to receive a portion of that funding.

Nye County has created a variety of programs for the local communities that utilize this CARES Act money, including programs specifically for small businesses and nonprofit organizations, for individual members of the public and for sub-entities that have seen a financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Eligible uses (of county program funds) must be for costs incurred during the period of March 16, 2020 through December 30, 2020 due to the public health emergency,” the Nye County CARES Act information page details. “The applications will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis.”

In addition to the county’s CARES Act programs, Nye County is also working with the Nevada Association of Counties on a working capital grant that can provided further assistance to small businesses financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Eligible uses include utilities, payroll not covered by PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), inventory, etc. This grant program is being supported by CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds…Nevada Association of Counties grant awards range from $5,000 to $15,000 for the working capital grants, depending on the number of employees, up to 19,” information from the county states.

Through the county’s programs, nonprofit organizations can apply for funding to cover their own rental, mortgage and utility costs as well as food assistance to the community and a newly included service, mental and behavioral health assistance to the community.

Individual members of the public can apply for rental, mortgage and utility assistance. Small businesses can apply for rental assistance as well as funding to help cover the costs associated with personal protective equipment. Sub-entities can apply for assistance with personal protective equipment, telecommuting, medical facility modifications and retrofit expenses.

The maximum amount that sub-entities can apply for varies depending on the location of the sub-entity and the population of their location, Nye County Grants Administrator Samantha Kramer explained for the Pahrump Valley Times. “They can contact us directly to discuss available amounts. At this time, we have received only a handful of applications so that criteria may change depending on the need of the sub-entities applying,” she stated.

As to the other programs, Kramer detailed, “There are no limits on the other programs for now and funding is available based on first come first serve. Non-profits are included in the small business category, so the only threshold they have is the working capital of $5k, $10k, or $15k.

Small businesses can apply for funding through multiple programs, however, they can not request funding for the same item through both programs (no duplicating of funds). For example, if they are recording their April rent payment in the working capital program, they can not request assistance through the rental program for the same month.”

As mentioned by Kramer, the county has had something of a difficult time getting applications in for utilizing this funding and as a result, the parameters of the programs may be adjusted slightly in the future.

During the Nye County Commission’s Oct. 6 meeting, Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo suggested the county consider increasing the maximum amount of funding per small business application as well as increasing the maximum number of employees for small businesses applying for the county’s program.

“There’s not a lot of people taking advantage of this, which is kind of disappointing me a little bit,” Blundo told his fellow commissioners. “So I wanted to entertain… upping the limits for some of these businesses and then potentially, on the 20th when we see this again, take a look at this a second time and if the number (of applicants) is not going up, I wanted to entertain opening it up to businesses with more employees. We only get one crack at these financials and we only have until December.”

As of Sept. 24, Nye County had only received 34 total applications from small businesses, members of the public and sub-entities, leaving millions of dollars still on the table, money that will have to be returned if it is not utilized by the close of December.

During the Oct. 6 meeting, Nye County Commissioner-elect Frank Carbone, who will be taking over commissioner John Koenig’s seat in 2021, remarked that one of the common threads of comment he had been hearing regarding the county’s CARES Act programs is that the policy guiding those programs is simply too complicated.

Indeed, the county’s CARES Act Policy is a very lengthy 90-page document including a myriad of information that could easily be viewed as intimidating or hard to decipher by members of the public.

However, much of that document covers information unrelated to the actual process of applying for the funding, instead focusing on “frequently asked questions” and other information specifically regarding the county’s function in distributing the funding. Additionally, the county has staff members tasked with assisting those wishing to apply for CARES Act funding, in an effort to make the process as easy as possible.

Individual members of the public seeking funding for rental, mortgage and utility costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic can get assistance with completing their application by contacting the Nye County Health and Human Services Office at 775-751-7095.

Assistance with any of the other CARES Act funding programs available through Nye County can be received by contacting Kramer at 775-751-7091.

Those in need of help with the Nevada Association of Counties’ working capital grants program can contact the Nevada Small Business Development Center, which is partnering with the Nevada Association of Counties to provide help on completing the working capital grant request.

Call 800-240-7094 to make an appointment with the Nevada Small Business Development Center.

Applications can also be accessed online at http://nyecounty.net/1090/CARES-Act-Funding

The deadline for applications for each of these programs was originally set at Oct. 6 but due to a lack of applicants, it has now been extended to Oct. 29.

For more information visit the county’s website at www.nyecounty.net

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com