Merced County to pay eligible residents’ rent, mortgage, utilities with CARES Act funds
The Merced County Board of Supervisors this week unanimously enacted a rental, mortgage and utility assistance program, saying calls by residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t fallen on deaf ears.
Supported by federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds, the $1 million program allocates aid for residents with proof of financial pain due to COVID-19.
Central Valley Opportunity Center, a regional nonprofit, is contracted to administer the program.
“I think that this program that we just voted on . . . checks a lot of the boxes and all the things people want to see out there,” said Supervisor Scott Silveira. “It has a pretty wide net of who can apply.”
The vote came after two hours of more than 70 voicemails were played during public comment.
Speakers implored county leadership in English, Spanish and Hmong to support residents with direct assistance by allocating some of the $28.9 million CARES Act dollars received.
Merced resident Jesse Ornelas, who was sworn in as a Merced City Council member this week, was one of those callers.
Ornelas said he spoke not as a councilmember, but as a resident and member of the Merced Youth Leadership Institute.
“I am asking the Board of Supervisors to do the humane thing,” Ornelas said. “I am urging you to enact a rent, utility and mortgage relief program for the people of Merced County.”
The approved program does just that by paying the landlords, lenders and utility companies of residents who have fallen behind. A maximum of $4,000 is available per household.
The Dec. 14 through Jan. 25, 2021 application period may be extended if more CARES Act dollars become available — or if another federal stimulus package allows further funding to be used for the program.
Citizenship not a requirement
While recipients must demonstrate financial loss incurred by the pandemic, county officials said the program aims to widen eligibility to capture the community’s needs.
One notable difference compared to prior aid is that citizenship doesn’t affect eligibility. That means undocumented individuals may apply. Applicants must still be county residents to have their bills paid.
Another requirement is proof of income during the last 12 months having been at or below 250% the federal poverty guidelines due to COVID-19.
Acceptable pandemic-caused impacts include, but aren’t limited to, a reduction in work hours, increases in expenses because of medical bills or homeschooling and loss of income due to quarantine or child care.
“I think this helps folks that aren’t getting help any other way,” Supervisor Lloyd Pareira said.
The board’s action also directed the Ready2Open Small Business Assistance Program to open for another round of applications — and increased awards. The maximum was raised to $62,500 per business and $2,500 per employee.
The application period is Dec. 9-15. More information can be found on the Reopen Merced County website.
Supervisors also put to bed circulating rumors that the county was on track to return millions of CARES Act funds unspent after the Dec. 30 deadline. Several speakers had voiced frustration over the rumor during public comment.
“We have no intentions of sending any CARES Act dollars back,” Silveira clarified.
Supervisors blame Newsom for delay
Pleas for more financial assistance grew in recent months after county leadership rejected the idea of a local eviction moratorium.
Residents asking the county for help with rent, mortgage or utilities were directed to Human Service Agency programs.
But local advocacy groups like Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, 99 Rootz, the League of United Latin American Citizens and Faith in the Valley pointed out that some residents — like undocumented people — do not meet requirements.
Of Merced County’s 277,680 residents, 25,000 were estimated to be undocumented as of 2016, according to the nonprofit Building Healthy Communities.
Residents requested at several board meetings that the county allocate CARES Act dollars to pay struggling residents’ bills, as other Valley counties had done, before the Dec. 30 expenditure deadline.
Speakers said residents are months behind on utilities and forced to choose between paying that, rent or mortgage.
The board’s action following residents’ comments was unexpected to those asking for such a program.
“It actually really surprised us, because they had not let us know anything at all,” said Sheng Xiong, a Merced County resident and policy advocate for Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. “We’re glad that they heard us and decided to do something.”
Publicly, the county had been quiet about whether residents’ requests were being considered. But county supervisors said the issue had been at the forefront of the board’s minds — and worries.
“This has been the biggest stress point with this Board of Supervisors,” Supervisor Daron McDaniel said.
McDaniel said the county knew its constituency was upset and had a responsibility to help, since the state forced residents out of work. Staff had been working on the program behind the scenes for months.
But uncertainty arose with what McDaniel described as the governor’s threatening stance toward delivering the CARES Act funds.
State officials said counties not following COVID-19 mandates could be cut off from funding, like when the City of Atwater was cut off from Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars, McDaniel told the Sun-Star.
“The whole time that this governor (Newsom) held these funds, he was threatening not to pay out our share,” McDaniel said.
The county waited to roll the program out publicly until the last of the CARES Act dollars were secured. If aid was promised to residents but the federal money never delivered, the county would have had to take it out of the general fund, McDaniel said.
“We were on pins and needles wondering if we were going to get that payment,” he said. “There was a cautious approach on how we were doing this.”
It wasn’t until mid October that Merced County received its final CARES Act funds. Later at the end of the month that the California Department of Finance granted an extension to use the dollars through Dec. 30.
Still, McDaniel said realignment dollars, which fund a county’s public safety, continue to be threatened by the state if a county is considered non-compliant with state orders.
“Folks have to understand we live in a world now where Sacramento dictates us and changes the rules all the time,” Silveira said at the meeting.
This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
