HARLINGEN — The area’s cities are offering a helping hand as residents enter their second year of the coronavirus pandemic.
In Harlingen, city commissioners have earmarked $250,000 to help residents strained as a result of the economic slowdown stemming from the pandemic.
On Monday, Bill Reagan, executive director of Loaves and Fishes, began overseeing the program funded through federal reimbursements from the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES.
“The city commissioners and staff understand there are a lot of people in the city of Harlingen who are hurting,” he said.
Reagan said residents facing financial loses as a result of the economic slowdown are applying for the program, which offers qualifying families as much as $4,500 to help them pay up to three months of utility bills, rent and mortgages that haven’t been granted forbearance.
“It’s basically working people who apply,” he said. “Most are people who were not in need before. They’re people who lost their jobs or had their hours reduced. So many people affected are people working in restaurants.”
San Benito mulls expanding business grant program
Meanwhile, San Benito’s Economic Development Corporation is proposing the expansion of a program offering grants to businesses.
Rebeca Castillo, the EDC’s executive director, wants to open the program to businesses across town — not just the downtown merchants whom the program has been offering help.
“We want to create more opportunity to incentivize those businesses,” she said of businesses within the city limits. “Right now, with COVID, it’s important the businesses try to do the best they can within their means. This grant incentive allows them to maximize their dollars. It’s money they don’t have to pay back so it gives them a little bit of cushion.”
This year, the agency is setting aside $76,000, compared with last year’s $65,000, Castillo said, adding the EDC’s budget stands at $1.3 million with $2.6 million worth of reserves.
“There’s more demand, more requests, than in the prior year,” she said, adding more small businesses are opening. The program will help qualifying businesses pay 50 percent of as much as six months’ worth of rent, she said. Castillo said the program will also offer qualifying business owners $1,500 to help them develop their storefronts’ signage and as much as $100,000 within a five-year period to spruce up their shops.
San Benito bucking national trend
Like most cities across the country, the economic slowdown has deeply impacted many businesses.
As a result, Harlingen officials are projecting the city’s sales tax collection to flatline through the fiscal year closing in October.
But in San Benito, merchants are bucking the national trend, with the city’s sales tax revenue climbing 18 percent last year to $5.6 million, Castillo said.
“The city’s progress has been unusual for this community,” she said. “It’s one of the best years San Benito has had in over 10 years.”
As the city launched a campaign urging residents to shop in town last year, many are staying closer to home during the pandemic, City Commissioner Rene Garcia, who serves as the EDC’s vice president, said.
“People realized you don’t need to leave San Benito to get your essentials. The closer to home, the better,” he said. “We’re asking people to shop San Benito first. That prevents a lot of leakage in terms of dollars that have left to neighboring cities for many years.”
Last year, the city’s biggest sales drivers were H-E-B, Wal-Mart and Lopez Supermarkets, along with Matt’s Cash & Carry Building Materials, McCoy’s Building Supply and Tractor Supply, officials said.
Meanwhile, local shops are turning “creative,” Castillo said.
“They’re doing as much as possible to survive the situation and not close down,” she said. “They’ve become more creative. They’re means of delivery has changed, through drive-thru, curbside and the internet. The businesses are coming out even or making a small profit.”
