The funding has been sent as part of the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund, $61,147,507 of which has been released to Travis County.
The May 18 letter signed by 16 Travis County mayors, including those of Rollingwood, Bee Cave, Lakeway, Plugerville, Cedar Park and Sunset Valley, advocates for a per capita approach to the distribution of the funds.
The original letter assigned a figure of $197.44 for each person living within the 21 municipalities of Travis County, not including Austin.
However, Rollingwood Mayor Michael Dyson said days later that new parameters established by Gov. Greg Abbott put a more accurate per capita figure at $174.79 per person. That amounts to roughly $23.67 million for the total population of 133,334 within the 21 cities, based on 2018 population data, and leaves another $37.88 million for the rest of the county's programs and unincorporated communities, Dyson said.
Dyson and Bee Cave Mayor Kara King expressed concerns regarding their understanding that county officials have hired a third-party firm to help determine how to allocate the CRF funds. Dyson said he believes this would not only add unneeded steps but also unnecessary delays to the allocation process.
King said she feels it would be best to allow each city's officials to be in charge of their allocations and for those allocations to be based on a city's population.
King said she plans to speak to the Travis County Commissioners Court during its June 2 meeting to continue campaigning for the collective solution established by the municipalities.
Dyson emphasized that so far, Biscoe and Precinct 3 Commissioner Gerald Daugherty have been receptive during talks regarding a solution to the funding allocation.
Attempts to reach county officials for comment have so far not been successful.
