Wakulla Reports: Uncovering the Truth About Wakulla County’s COVID-19 CARES Act Funds – Part 1

At Wakulla Reports, we’re dedicated to shining a light on how our local government operates, ensuring transparency and accountability for our community. Recently, a concerned citizen reached out with pressing questions about the millions of dollars Wakulla County received from the State of Florida through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. These funds were meant to support our community during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the responses provided by the Wakulla County Board of County Commissioners were vague and left the citizen—and us—with more questions than answers.

To launch our investigative blog series, we’re starting by presenting the citizen’s questions and the county’s responses, as shared with us. While we don’t know the exact timeframe of when these questions were asked, the answers offer an initial glimpse into how Wakulla County allocated its CARES Act funds. However, they also reveal gaps in transparency that demand further scrutiny. Let’s break down the questions, the responses, and what they mean for our community as we begin to follow the money.

The Citizen’s Questions and the County’s Responses

1. How much did the Integrity Group get paid to process the Wakulla CARES Applications?

County Response: The Integrity Group provided a range of services to facilitate the Wakulla CARES grant programs, including attending Board meetings, developing the web-based Wakulla CARES portal, providing technical assistance to applicants, reviewing applications, ensuring compliance with CARES Act and U.S. Treasury guidance, and more. The total cost for these services from August 6 to November 15, 2020, was $212,956.15.

Our Take: The county detailed the Integrity Group’s services, but a nearly $213,000 bill for just over three months of work raises questions. Was this contract competitively bid? How was the Integrity Group chosen? We’ll dig deeper into these details in future posts.

2. How much money total was available to go to the citizens in each of the three categories?

County Response: The initial Wakulla CARES Act plan, approved in July 2020, allocated:

• Small Business Grants: $1,000,000

• Individual Assistance Grants: $1,000,000

On October 5, 2020, the Board added a Not-for-Profit (501(c)(3)) Grant program, capped at $150,000. By November 2, 2020, based on applications received and updated U.S. Treasury guidance, the Board revised the caps to:

• Small Business Grants: $88,952.60

• Individual Assistance Grants: $72,623.60

• Not-for-Profit Grants: No change ($150,000)

Our Take: The sharp reduction in funding for Small Business and Individual Assistance Grants is striking. Why were the original $1 million allocations for each category cut to less than 10% of their initial amounts? What drove this decision, and where was the remaining money redirected? The county’s response lacks clarity, which we’ll explore further.

3. How many applications were there in each category?

County Response:

• Small Business Grants: 41

• Individual Assistance Grants: 68

• Not-for-Profit Grants: 1

• Total: 110

Our Take: For a county of over 30,000 residents, just 110 applications seems remarkably low. Was the application process overly complicated, poorly promoted, or inaccessible? The single application for the Not-for-Profit category is especially curious—why was there so little engagement?

4. How many applications were approved in each category?

County Response:

• Small Business Grants: 20

• Individual Assistance Grants: 43

• Not-for-Profit Grants: 0

• Total: 63

Our Take: With less than 60% of applications approved and zero non-profit grants awarded, questions arise about the approval process. What criteria led to such a high rejection rate, particularly for small businesses and the sole non-profit applicant? This suggests potential barriers in the grant program’s design or execution.

5. What was the total amount of money granted to help Wakulla residents?

County Response:

• Small Business Grants: $108,176.50

• Individual Assistance Grants: $96,787.43

• Not-for-Profit Grants: $0

• Total: $204,963.93

Our Take: The county distributed just over $205,000 through these grants, a small fraction of the total funds received. This raises a critical question: where did the vast majority of the funds go?

6. Where is the rest of the money that was allocated to the county to help the citizens?

County Response: CARES Act funds were used to assist citizens directly through grants or indirectly by recovering county expenses for:

• Public safety personnel (Wakulla County Fire and Rescue and Sheriff’s Office)

• County staff dedicated to managing the CARES Act program

• Personal protective equipment (PPE)

• County Attorney fees

• Financial assistance to the Wakulla County Health Department for COVID-19 response and mitigation

• CareerSource for workforce training and internship programs

The county noted that staff were working on a quarterly report with the Clerk’s Office to provide specific costs for each category.

Our Take: This response is frustratingly broad, offering no specific dollar amounts or detailed breakdowns. How much was spent on PPE compared to sheriff’s office salaries? What justified the County Attorney fees? Without concrete figures, it’s impossible to evaluate whether these expenditures truly served the community. The promised quarterly report could hold answers, but why wasn’t this information readily available when the citizen asked? - To note, we were never offered a quarterly report when we requested tracking of funds from the clerk's office. We did not specifically ask for it but if the report was available and not offered, what does that say about willingness to be transparent?

The Bigger Picture: $5.8 Million and Counting Questions

Through our public records requests, we confirmed that Wakulla County received $5,887,196 in CARES Act funds from the State of Florida, as reported by the Florida Division of Emergency Management. The citizen’s questions focused on just $1.5 million of this total, yet the county’s responses were vague and incomplete. If the Board struggled to provide clear answers about a fraction of the funds, what does that say about the transparency of the full $5.8 million?

What’s Next?

This is just the starting point. In our next blog, we’ll dive into the documentation obtained from our public records request to the State of Florida. While we may not be able to track every penny—county financial software and detailed records remain inaccessible—we’re working to uncover where the bulk of the $5.8 million went. The records we’ve received so far are light on specifics, but they hint at surprising details about how decisions were made and who benefited, including the role of sub-grant recipients like CareerSource Capital Region.

We’ll also take a closer look at the Integrity Group’s contract, the County Attorney’s fees, and other expenditures that shaped how these funds were used. Our mission is to follow the money, hold our leaders accountable, and ensure Wakulla residents get the answers they deserve.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we’ll begin unpacking the paper trail and asking the tough questions: Did Wakulla County prioritize its citizens, or did vague accounting and bureaucratic processes obscure the true impact of these funds?