Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Coal Region Canary
Coal Region CanaryCoal Region Canary

Coronavirus in Schuylkill County

Flawed Applications Blamed for Stalled CARES Act Relief in Schuylkill County

schuylkill county cares act

schuylkill county cares act

Schuylkill County totally botched its management of the $12.7 million it received from the federal CARES Act.

But its mismanagement of this largess didn’t hurt county government one bit. For the local small businesses who hoped to get in on some of that action, however, they’re getting screwed.

On Wednesday, the County Commissioners approved a motion to pay another company up to $65,000 more than it originally agreed to spend to help manage the money in that fund. That’s at least 6 more Schuylkill County businesses that won’t get any help recovering the losses they incurred from unconstitutional restrictions against running their business.

Schuylkill County Botched the Secret COVID Business Grant Program

The reason for needing to spend this extra money to manage the CARES Act funding? Commissioners heard on Wednesday that partly falls on the small businesses who caught wind of the secretive business grant program.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1658728627906147

According to Paul Buber, Schuylkill County’s Finance Director, a lot of businesses applying for a grant submitted an incomplete application.

But, to be fair, that wasn’t the only reason. Buber said the county needs to expand its contract obligation with Susquehanna Accounting and Consulting Solutions Inc. because of what he says are constantly changing rules on how it can be spent.

“After the CARES Act funding and the initial guidelines were released, those guidelines were subsequently amended or changed,” he said, which required additional work.

We’re unclear on how these rule changes on how to spend the CARES Act money impacted the County government. So far, the Commissioners have had no problem finding ways to spend it. They’ve spent more than half of it on the following:

  • An upgrade to the County 9-1-1 system
  • New touchless faucets and toilets at the Courthouse
  • A new HVAC system at Schuylkill County Prison

Flawed Applications

But then Buber mentioned the other reason the County needs to spend this extra money to manage the dwindling pot of CARES Act money: those pesky small businesses, non-profits, and municipalities. They finally found out about the secretive grant program the County didn’t really want them to know about and then applied to get some of it.

“In connection with the applications the County has received,” Buber explained to Commissioners this week, “Many of those applications were incomplete and did not contain all of the required requested information. There was a lot of follow-up work that was required.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1658728627906147

He said those errors weren’t anticipated when it first drew up its initial contract with Susquehanna Accounting and Consulting Solutions Inc.

Now, to appear like the County government is the good guy here, Administrator Gary Bender jumped on to Buber’s statement. He said the County could have just rejected the incomplete applications.

But that wouldn’t be right, he said. So, the County leaned on this outside agency for help tracking down missing information on applications for some of the CARES Act money.

“It was the quality of the applications,” Bender said. “Not criticizing anyone but again if it’s incomplete, normally it gets rejected. We did not want to do that here.”

A representative from this outside company attended the Commissioners meeting Wednesday. He told them that 90% of the applications the County received required some form of follow-up. The County apparently received between 130-140 applications for CARES Act aid.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1658728627906147

The main reason for most of the delays in processing these applications, and the need for so much follow-up work, is the lack of supporting information that confirms what a business claimed as losses on its application for aid.

Rush Job

So, why did nearly every application for a CARES Act grant from Schuylkill County require so much follow-up work? It’s easy to say, as it was on Wednesday, that businesses and non-profits aren’t used to filling out grant applications. Grant applications are tedious and require a certain level of work. That’s true.

But put yourself in the position of a small business owner who wondered when (or if) the County would create a grant program like so many other counties did. You wait and wait and wait … all the while, you’re watching the County burn through massive sums of this money … and then finally, you hear that there is grant program.

You don’t hear about it from the County. To this day, Schuylkill County never formally and publicly announced that a program existed. Instead, Commissioner Boots Hetherington alluded to it in a passing comment at one meeting. (READ: Some Counties Created a Grant Fund for CARES Act Money – In Schuylkill, You Need to “Contact Mr. Bender”)

Then, we learned from a member of Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce that an email circulated among its members that the County was semi-formally opening up some of the funds to businesses. But you only knew about that if you were a Chamber member or read The Canary. (READ: Schuylkill County Launches COVID Small Business Grant Program – But No Public Announcement)

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1658728627906147

But that email informed businesses they only had 2 weeks to get their applications to the Courthouse. So any business that wanted to apply for a grant had to put a rush on it. And that, obviously, led to errors and missing information.

It’s now been more than a month since the deadline and they’re still trying to sort out the details. Perhaps, just throwing this out there, the County could have given businesses more time to complete these applications. Not once did the County accept any blame for this major delay.

Rather than waiting until the last minute to release (in private) details about this grant program to only select businesses, the County could have opened up the program a lot sooner. They’ve been sitting on this money for months, after all.

That’s how Commissioner Gary Hess feels, according to his comments on Wednesday, questioning the need for an expanded contract with these consultants. Hess said he believed this CARES Act money was meant to help businesses, non-profits, and municipalities “get through to the other side” of the pandemic response, or to “throw them a lifeline,” as he put it.

“This is the end of October. This is why I’ve been asking questions on how we can get the money out there. And now we’re on the 11th hour,” Hess said.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1658728627906147

He voted against amending the contract with this consulting service but it still passed as Commissioners Hetherington and George Halcovage approved it.

Subscribe to Coal Region Canary

Get email updates from Coal Region Canary by becoming a subscriber today. Just enter your email address below to get started!
Loading

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Geralynn Matta

    October 17, 2020 at 9:20 am

    Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household,but he who hates bribes will live. Proverbs 15:27

  2. Jean

    October 19, 2020 at 12:20 am

    They made it almost impossible for small businesses to get any help. I began calling as soon as the money was received and they had no answers. I was passed from department to department and got no answers. No one even knew who was managing this or so they claimed. Millions of dollars and you don’t know who’s in control…OK! Then when I was finally able to speak to someone (GB), he basically tried to talk me out of applying and didn’t believe my company would qualify but agreed to send an application. Let me note- my company is a nonprofit. Several more calls and emails before app was received and with that, I was told it had to be returned by the end of the week, which was 4 days later. Unfortunately, my accountant was on vacation and could not provide all the required info within a few days so I just gave up. Way to go, Commissioners! No worries- my employees will remember this when you run for re-election. I’m anxiously awaiting the list of businesses that received funding; I’m sure none will be surprising.

    • Canary Commenter

      October 19, 2020 at 2:08 am

      This mismanagement of the CARES Act money has been shambolic. Most counties are handing money out left and right. In Schuylkill County, it’s like trying to crack a bank vault.

  3. PTFloridians

    October 20, 2020 at 7:35 am

    The covid money scheme, nationwide, could very well be the biggest transfer of money, shell game scheme, EVER. It’s an open door to dishonesty, fraudulent claims, favoritism, graft, grift and outright lies about the virus. I first caught a glimpse of the strangeness, in Florida, when the Wuhan virus hit the scene, back in Jan-Feb. Everything about this virus, was weaponized and used as a money funnel for many. No doubt that many politicians and government officials, in both parties, got rich, and will continue to find ways and distort numbers and cases, to cash in.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More From The Canary

Local Weather

This weather presents a jacket dilemma.

Local Weather

Clouds roll in for much of this week.

Local Weather

It's a real gas of a day, daddy-o!

Local Weather

1-2 inches expected today

PA Lottery Numbers

Wednesday's winning numbers

PA Lottery Numbers

Sunday's winning numbers

Schuylkill County News

Did Code Enforcement put down the wrong date of the alleged offenses?

Horoscopes

Here's what the stars have in store for each sign on this day.

Advertisement https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1658728627906147