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Part II: Lag Times Frustrate Georgians
Illustration by Brittney Phan (State Affairs)
Key Points
- Georgia ranks 12th-slowest among states for paying out $552 million in federal COVID-19 rental assistance that must be spent or given to other states.
- Only $57 million— roughly 10% — had been distributed between April and mid-December even as state officials spent more than $11 million on internal costs.
- The federal government could give millions of Georgia’s rent-assistance dollars to other states to spend on their residents if local officials don’t use it soon.
As of the federal government’s last count, Georgia’s DCA ranked 12th slowest among state agencies across the U.S. in terms of divvying up the rent funds it’s been given, according to Treasury data. Other states like North Carolina have pushed out their funding far faster than Georgia, with the Tar Heel State having pumped out more than 80% of its $522 million allocation by the end of October, records show. Likewise, even local cities and counties such as Atlanta and Gwinnett have moved quicker to pay out their own shares of the federal rent money – and they potentially could nab some of DCA’s unspent funds in the coming weeks.
Georgia’s state government has trailed many other states and local governments in distributing its share of emergency rental assistance. (Credit: Brittney Phan for State Affairs)
The lag times have frustrated many Georgians facing eviction and local housing advocates who have pushed the state to pick up the pace, including some state lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
“No, it’s not being run as well as it could,” said state Rep. Rick Williams (R-Milledgeville). “Too much red tape. Our citizens deserve better.”
“It’s inexcusable that we have $552 million at our disposal to help these families stay in their homes, but (Gov. Brian) Kemp and his department can’t get claims processed any quicker, especially given how much they’ve spent administering the program,” said state Rep. Shea Roberts (D-Atlanta).
Kemp’s office declined to comment on the program for this story. DCA officials have urged patience and faith in the state’s assistance program, noting that the agency has grappled with an “unprecedented opportunity” in which many hard-hit Georgians who heard about the program initially thought it “was too good to be true,” said DCA spokesman Adrion Bell.
“We have not identified any challenges that we were not able to overcome with marketing, outreach, additional staffing, extending working hours and offering overtime,” Bell said in response to questions from State Affairs. “We have a continuous review process to identify and prevent fraud…. We also established communication with our county magistrate courts so that judges are aware of the program and can use it as an alternative to evictions.”
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