April 9, 2020 — With the economy in freefall, the county relies more than ever on tax revenue. Property taxes are still due on April 10, but penalties for those who can’t pay as a result of the pandemic will be waived. On Tuesday, Treasurer Tax Collector Shari Schapmire reported that her office still has over $20 million left to collect for the April payment, and noted that the county is required to pay 70% of that revenue to cities and special districts, regardless of whether it succeeds in collecting or not. “So as far as what is going to happen, we’re not quite sure, of course,” she acknowledged. “I don’t think anybody is quite sure what’s going to happen. We’re going to have to be a little liberal with this, because most people are affected. We really want to encourage everybody who can pay to pay, because the county desperately needs the money, and the schools and the special districts and everything. But we know this has impacted a lot of people”
Deputy CEO Darcie Antil told the board yesterday how the pandemic stacked up against recent disasters, in terms of workflow. “The total hours since March fourth, by the team here at the county,” she reported; “over 18,000 hours. Compared to our October PSPS in 2019. Those total hours were 2,325. The October wildfires of 2017, over 15,000 hours. So there is a huge impact on our county, and the current estimate on the payroll, just to date, is over two million dollars.”
But it’s small businesses that are likely to be hardest hit by the efforts to keep as many community members as possible alive. Mary Ann Petrillo is the CEO of West Business Development Center, a non-profit organization that contracts with the Small Business Administration and the county to offer free training to the local business community. She did not sugar coat the situation. She invited supervisors to “Consider that each of you may not know somebody personally...who has coronavirus. But I can guarantee that you know someone whose livelihood has been decimated by this pandemic…I’m not known for over-reacting, but our rural economy really is in freefall.”
Petrillo told the board that the federal CARES Act is not going to help small businesses as much as big ones. The rigamarole can be prohibitive, but she said the two things available to small business owners, including sole proprietors, are the payroll protection program and the Small Business Administration economic injury disaster loan. She told the board that West has been gathering resources for small scale entrepreneurs. The Corona Business Resource page is updated every evening, with links and information for the business community.
“Working on the emergency that is the economy is going to be essential,” she said, as she offered ideas that ranged from a strong shop local campaign to working regionally, to getting clarity about tax policies and gathering data for going after grants. She suggested that this might also be an opportunity to think about innovation, developing new skills, and expanding internet access for everyone. “It’s never going to be business as usual again for our county,” she said; “but prosperity is built on the hope for the future. So actions now may bring hope to many.”