The Crow Wing County Board Tuesday, Jan. 19, unanimously approved distributing funds set aside by the Minnesota Legislature into the community, prioritizing businesses not ordered closed by Gov. Tim Walz that could still demonstrate financial impacts of COVID-19. The board also approved grants for businesses temporarily shuttered by executive order that did not apply for federal funds doled out by the county last year. The majority of those in these categories will receive $10,000, the maximum request permitted by the county’s grant program.
Another 204 applications came from those who received federally funded grants from the county in 2020. The board is expected to consider those at a later date, alongside a small group for which eligibility was not yet determined.
In total, 359 entities requested about $3.3 million — nearly three times the $1.12 million available. County Administrator Tim Houle explained a committee organized to evaluate the applications recommended those in the first two categories be fully funded with the remaining funds split evenly among those who’d already received grants. That committee included commissioners Steve Barrows and Rosemary Franzen.
“It goes without saying that you’re going to end up having to say no here to a lot of people,” Houle said. “And so it was trying to figure out where did we think that the folks were experiencing the most pain in the community.”
Businesses or nonprofit organizations with a physical location in Crow Wing County and fewer than 50 employees were eligible to request up to $10,000 to cover expenses related to the pandemic incurred between March 1, 2020, through the end of the application period, which was Jan. 12.
Tyler Glynn, executive director of the Brainerd Lakes Area Economic Development Corp., shares information with Crow Wing County commissioners Tuesday, Jan. 19. Screenshot / Chelsey Perkins
Barrows said he felt the committee came up with the best approach it could to hand out grants fairly, but noted cooperation from the Minnesota Department of Revenue was severely lacking in terms of making the most informed decisions.
As part of the state’s $242 million relief package, $88 million went to the revenue department for direct payments to restaurants, bars, bowling alleys and gyms. Among those businesses, only those showing a 30% revenue loss in the second and third quarters of 2020 compared to those same quarters a year earlier will receive funds, per the legislation. County officials said they were stymied from learning which businesses would benefit from this separate funding stream, with the Department of Revenue declining to share the information while citing data privacy concerns.
“I just wanted to make a note of that for the public, that they know those efforts were made to try to identify those businesses where dollars were coming from another source other than what the Crow Wing County Board was putting out there,” Barrows said. “Having said that, I think we took the best approach we could, under the circumstances.”
Commissioner Doug Houge echoed Barrows’ frustrations, noting the county could’ve been more effective in its grant efforts by spreading the funding around to meet the greatest needs.
“It was just a ‘slam the door in your face’ type of answer to us, so I think the process could’ve been much smoother,” Houge said. “ … That was unfortunate. Hopefully if there’s another round of this, they hear us. And I know other counties are struggling with that as well, but gosh, it’s just unfortunate that they weren’t more of a partner in this than a nuisance, I guess.”
Dale Lueck
State Rep. Dale Lueck, R-Aitkin, lobbied the revenue department on behalf of Crow Wing and Aitkin counties to be more transparent about the businesses it would directly fund. Reached by phone Tuesday, Lueck said he and other legislators ran into serious difficulty in working with the state department on the issue.
“A typical county has a stack of extremely sensitive information and they certainly are capable of handling tax-related information in a secure manner,” Lueck said. “I mean, you get into child protection stuff and all kinds of other stuff, and it’s equally or more sensitive than anybody’s tax-related data.”
Lueck said they moved the needle slightly, noting the revenue department is permitting that information to be shared if the business signs a release form. But he said all county officials are looking for is whether these businesses are on the list to receive grants — not details on the sales tax they’ve paid. He said with hindsight, he would’ve rather seen the entirety of the funds go to county governments to distribute, given they tend to be more in tune with the needs of Main Street and already demonstrated they could handle grant programs using the federal funds.
“The rationale for the Department of Revenue to be involved at all was they looked us in the eye and said, ‘We can do this in a couple of weeks,’” Lueck said. “ … Well, 30 days later they’re still fumbling with that. Folks in Crow Wing and Aitkin County are already at the point where they’ve passed their deadline for the first round of applications. The Department of Revenue has just started sending that money out.”
In any case, Lueck said he hopes this is the last relief package the Legislature puts together — not because he doesn’t want to support businesses, but because he’s hoping their pain will end.
“Hopefully this is the last time we’re going to have to do this type of thing, because we’ve got to turn the corner on this, on how we’re dealing with the pandemic, and not continue to stifle our economy,” he said. “We’ve got to be careful and safe, but we keep killing our local businesses.”