Though the city of Mineola can receive up to $266,365 in federal COVID-19 relief funds, many Texas city and county officials are not too pleased with the restrictions on those funds.

While large Texas cities received funds directly from the federal government, smaller communities had to wait for the money to be distributed from the Texas Dept. of Emergency Management, and then received only 20% of the money ($53,273 for Mineola).

The rest will be reimbursed for expenses that are directly related to the COVID-19 response.

“We can’t use it to aid our community,” Mineola City Manager Mercy Rushing said at last week’s city council meeting.

She said the funds to the largest cities were unrestricted.

“We want to be able to do that, too,” she said.

Rushing has sent letters to state and federal officials asking that the fund restrictions be eased.

The money was calculated based on population at $55 per capita. Initial reports indicated cities and counties might receive twice that or more.

County Judge Lucy Hebron echoed similar thoughts: “I believe that the limitations placed on the small rural counties and cities are unfair and restrictive.”

She has authored a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott, signed by more than 30 other county judges, also copied to Rep. Cole Hefner and Sen. Bryan Hughes.

The letter says the relief package is “discriminatory to small rural counties.”

It specifically discusses the businesses that suffered losses through mandatory closures “whether they were in a large county or in a small rural county.”

The guidelines allow small counties to spend up to 25% of the funds on other expenses, (not medical, healthcare or payroll), which includes business relief funds.

“It is hard to explain the rationale for this limitation to our local business owners who have suffered irreparable loss,” Hebron’s letter states. “They inquire why their business losses are any less worthy of relief than their big-city counterparts. This may not have been an intended consequence of the relief plan, but we wanted you to be aware of the disastrous results.”

The letter urges Abbott to loosen restrictions on small counties and treat them the same as larger ones.

Wood County’s share is $1,862,465 with its 20% portion $372,493.

Funding amounts for other Wood County cities include Alba - $63,470; Hawkins - $76,560; Quitman - $103,840; Winnsboro - $142,340; and Yantis - $22,605.

The cities received 20% of those amounts and must apply for the rest as reimbursement.