- November 19, 2024
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Manatee and Sarasota counties have started the process of distributing CARES Act funding to people, businesses and municipalities affected by COVID-19.
Town Manager Tom Harmer said Longboat Key is submitting its expense estimates to Sarasota County and actual expense requests to Manatee County.
Harmer said Longboat Key’s reimbursement under the CARES Act is a little complicated because the barrier island is in both Manatee and Sarasota counties.
“You have two different counties that are taking slightly different approaches, especially with the phase-one funding,” Town Manager Tom Harmer said. “That has been a positive effort on both parts, and they both are encouraging us to submit our expenses at the right time.”
In March, President Donald Trump signed the CARES Act into law, providing nearly $8.3 billion to the state of Florida. The CARES Act allocated $70 million to Manatee County and up to $75.7 million in Sarasota County.
The counties have received direct payment from the state for the first 25% of their allotment. Harmer said each county is handling the initial funds a bit differently.
“Sarasota County is not distributing any fund directly to cities [and] municipalities out of phase one,” Harmer said. “They’ve indicated that, that would be addressed in phase two, the second level of funding.
“But Manatee County has designated a portion of phase-one dollars to go to municipalities based on a population formula.”
Harmer estimated Longboat Key has spent $671,675 on COVID-19-related matters as of Friday, much of it going toward salaries of town employees accomplishing additional COVID related duties. Citing conversations Harmer has had with the town’s finance department, he said about $114,248 of that total is eligible for CARES Act reimbursement.
The town of Longboat Key and Manatee County have an agreement using the population-based formula. Because about 33.62% of the island’s population lives in Manatee County, it means Manatee County would pay back the town about 33.62% of eligible expenses.
Sarasota County has not finalized agreements with municipalities as of Friday, according to Harmer. In phase two, Sarasota County is planning to reimburse the town based on overall costs after deducting what Manatee County provides in reimbursement.
“Sarasota County is not so much focused on the population formula as they are making sure it’s an eligible cost and that we don’t get double reimbursed,” Harmer said. “Because we’re in two counties, no one wants us to receive two payments for the same thing.”
Harmer said a municipality’s phase-one funding is supposed to have occurred between March 1 and Sept. 30, whereas phase-two funding is through Dec. 31.
Meanwhile, Manatee and Sarasota counties have set up pages on their websites to help people and business owners apply for federal funds under the CARES Act. Each county launched a dashboard to help people see how the money is allocated in real-time.
Both counties are in different phases of distribution for the CARES Act funding. Dec. 15 marks the deadline in Sarasota County to submit incurred costs and eligible expenditures, whereas many of the different rounds of applications have closed in Manatee County.
To help people better understand the CARES Act, Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce President Gail Loefgren said she is planning to hold a “Zoominar” with Visit Sarasota President Virginia Haley.
“Each phase has [its] own deadline, and then they move on to the next phase, but all the money has to be spent by the end of the year,” Loefgren said. “So everybody’s kind of in a hurry to get it out there.”
During the virtual session, people and business owners will be able to learn about what’s necessary to apply for CARES Act funding. Loefgren said they have not set a date yet for the virtual session.
