Need help applying for unemployment benefits?
What federal aid is available to small businesses?
Hamilton County leaders hope they can soon provide these answers quickly to people through an online web portal and possibly a hotline you can call with questions on how to get economic aid to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece at a news conference Thursday unveiled her proposed COVID-19 Economic Recovery and Relief Task Force that would look at how to provide economic help to the public during the pandemic, including tax breaks and rate reductions that the county can give people.
“We know this is a very tough time for people,” Reece said. “We know in January and February and March, the rent is due. The mortgage is due. We want to do everything we can in a quick efficient way.”
Much of the fine print for the program still is unwritten, including how much it’ll cost, where the money would come from and how it’ll be organized. Reece’s proposed resolution doesn’t allocate any county money to the task force. Reece has proposed using federal dollars.
The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners was set to approve the task force’s creation at its meeting Thursday but delayed the vote until Feb. 2 at the behest of Board of Commissioners President Stephanie Summerow Dumas. Dumas called it “a major move” that she hasn’t had time to evaluate.
“I’m not trying to put a damper on it,” Dumas said. “I think it’s a great thing, but I need more than 24 hours to make a decision.”
Exactly when the online portal and hotline will be available wasn’t known. And what tax or rate relief would be available is also to be determined.
But Reece said she wanted to get the task force approved as quickly as possible. It would initially consist of a team led by County Administrator Jeff Aluotto. Then later community leaders to be named later would join to provide input on tax relief and other economic incentives, Reece said.
“Considering people need help right now, I feel it would be good if we move forward with it,” Reece said Thursday.
Aluotto and staff will have more details worked out in two weeks, Reece said.
Reece said she hoped the task force could help the county create an online portal where you can “hit a button and find everything you need economically to help you survive,” Reece said.
Reece also said the county will hire or contract with paralegals to act as “navigators” who will pick up the phone and answer the public’s questions on how to get federal aid, including unemployment benefits and small business loans. The county could use some of the $6 million left of the $140 million in federal money Hamilton County received in 2020 to pay expenses related to COVID-19.
“We don’t oversee unemployment, but it sure enough will help if you call one number and have a navigator that will help you walk through the process,” Reece said. “We also found that small businesses were missing out. Too many of them were missing out on the PPP (Payroll Protection Protection) money.”
“The overall goal of the task force is how do we help the taxpayer get a break,” she said.
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