I am angry.
In July of 2021 Hays County received over $6.9 million in Emergency Rental Assistance Grant from the Federal Government to help county residents who are in danger of being evicted from their homes during the COVID pandemic. The date by which all the funds had to be disbursed is March 31 of this year. County officials did not even begin to distribute funds until September when they had to return $772,791 of the funds. Another $1.7 million was returned on February 15 of this year. A good percentage of the remaining funds is scheduled to be returned. Many county residents who needed the funds will not be helped.
Why did this happen? Our commissioners thought they could save money by administering the funds through existing county staff and adding a few more people to the county payroll instead of hiring an experienced firm. What resulted was a formation of red tape filled structure that severely restricted the ability to get the funds to the people who needed them. County eligibility requirements went far beyond the federal guidelines. For example, applicants were required to write a half page paragraph describing how COVID had adversely affected their lives where a box to check would have been sufficient.
