Jacksonville looks at $1,000 relief grants for residents

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry rolled out more coronavirus financial relief Thursday.

On Thursday, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry outlined another in a series of relief proposals for Duval County residents facing “unprecedented financial impact.”

Language is still being finalized, but the program envisions $160 million in federal coronavirus relief funds, including $40 million for citizens to help with mortgage and rent payments, $25 million to offset revenue declines and $35 million for testing.

Chief Administrative Officer Brian Hughes said getting “cash in the hands of those who need it” would take a week to ten days.

“We have to restrict it to each household,” Hughes said.

Individuals could apply online or over the phone and the city could offer “transportation to a location where the final steps are taken.”

Hughes said the program would offer a $1,000 grant to those earning below $75,000 a year and who can demonstrate a 20% loss of income due to COVID-19.

The grants would not be offered on a sliding scale due to “undue burden” to applicants.

The Mayor’s Office plans to file the legislation Friday, with the Jacksonville City Council expected to take up the measure Monday.

Curry noted a “very positive reaction” from the Council.

“I expect it to pass,” the Mayor said, “and I expect to get dollars into people’s hands.”

The proposal furthers an already unprecedented expansion of local government spending, a sharp break from decades of penny-pinching for local social issues.

Jacksonville has historically been a hotbed of “low tax” Republicans, but the coronavirus crisis rendered topsy-turvy traditional ways of doing business.

Earlier this month, the Mayor’s Office rolled out an emergency loan program for Jacksonville small businesses, a “COVID-19 Small Business Relief & Employee Retention Grant Program.”

The city is initially investing $9 million from sub-funds within the city’s general fund balance, with a “maximum exposure” capped at $26 million over six years to cover interest and principal on loans totaling $50 million from VyStar Credit Union.

That program will be fully funded with federal funds from the relief bill.

The program offers access to capital for businesses with as few as two employees and as many as 100, “providing capital at low cost and doing it very quickly,” as Hughes put it earlier this month.