The contract has been awarded to Ardurra Group, Inc., a consulting firm that works with the firm within the public and private sectors and has offices in Austin and San Antonio.
Since the start of 2022, the ERA program has lost out on almost $2.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Treasury for not meeting targeted distribution amounts.
Director of Countywide Operations Tammy Crumley said much needed changes have been made to ensure a more efficient workflow since the initial loss in January.
As of Feb. 14, there are 357 open requests. Of those, 185 are pending citizen completion, 139 are under ERA staff review and 33 are under auditor review, Crumley added.
“Hiring staff has been extremely challenging. We have had part-time positions posted since July and very few applicants,” Crumley said.
The only full-time employee of the ERA program quit in late January, however, a new employee is expected to start in late February and will be joined by two more part-time employees, Crumley said.
“It’s wonderful that we’re at this point, ready to negotiate a contract. I appreciate all the staff’s work on this. We got these proposals really quickly, had to review them extremely quickly to meet this deadline to get it on [the agenda]. It’s important that we moved as quick as we did to ensure that we’re on top of this.” commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe said.
Though the contract has been awarded to Ardurra, negotiations over the details will follow. The court will vote on the final contract at a later date.
