Monroe County passes half million dollar mark in CARES Act distributions

At its regular Wednesday meeting Monroe County’s three-member board of commissioners approved federal pandemic relief for five more area businesses, pushing the total amount awarded to over a half million dollars.

At their Wednesday meeting, county commissioners approved another $48,698 in reimbursements to five different businesses, bringing the grand total so far to $531,278.

Awarded money in Wednesday’s round of approvals were Crumble ($30,000), Litwin Enterprises ($881.19) Michael’s Uptown Cafe ($13,123.62), Gallagher Properties, INC ($650), and C3 Bar ($4,043.64).

The money that Monroe County has been distributing money to businesses and government entities comes from a total $4.7 million CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act allocation to the county.

The county’s program started with the county government acting as a clearinghouse of sorts, by passing through to the state the claims submitted by local businesses and governmental units—like the library and townships—for non-payroll expenses related to COVID-19.

The state eventually asked the county to submit the county’s own expenses for public safety, which were enough to get reimbursement to the county of the whole $4.7 million.

With the money now sitting in the county’s general fund, it’s now up to the county government to reimburse local businesses and governmental units.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, county commissioners approved an extension of the contract with Dee Owens to administer and track the CARES grant awards. Wednesday’s contract extension was a $18,750 agreement that extends the agreement for Owens to do the grant administration work through May 9.

Table of Awardees through Feb. 3, 2021