Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 8-7-20

Local
‘No Sales Tax’ Holiday Begins Friday
County Program Could Help With Rent Or Mortgage
Residents in Hillsborough County who are still strug- gling to pay their bills may be eligible for help. Those who apply for the funding must have been affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic.
The resident could receive funding for up to five months for rent or mortgage pay- ments.
Hillsborough County’s Rapid Response Recovery (R3) Utility and Housing As- sistance Program is one of the most generous in the state.
Audrey Ziegler, direc- tor of the Social Services De- partment for Hillsborough County said, “A band aid was- n’t enough, as Florida enters month five of dealing with the pandemic. During phase one, the county approved over 1,600 applicants. This time around, it hopes to help out 7,000 people with the $12 million program.
“It’s going to provide relief where households are stressed, where children are home and people are facing having to home school their children. They are not sure what to do," Ziegler said.
If you are accepted, the county would pay your rent or mortgage for five months, plus past-due utility bills.
“So, if you can imagine being five months behind on your rent and a program coming to the rescue to re- lieve that burden and for someone to be able to have the time to find new employ- ment and to get back on their feet," Ziegler said.
Eligibility requirements include:
You must live in Hillsbor- ough County (includes Tampa, Plant City and Tem- ple Terrace)
You must have been im- pacted by a reduction in or loss of wages resulting from a layoff or lessening of hours due to COVID-19 between March - July 2020.
Liquid assets must not ex- ceed $3,600.
You must have a current lease or mortgage obligation and past-due utility bills.
Fall within income quali- fications.
It's also first-come, first- serve.
The County has already received over 2,000 applica- tions since the portal opened at 10 a.m. Monday. The de- mand is so great the portal kept crashing throughout the day. County leaders said if this happens to you, keep try- ing.
The Annual No Sales Tax’ Holiday weekend will begin at midnight on Friday, Au- gust 7th. It will continue until midnight Sunday, August 9th.
The Florida Legislature passed the 2020 Back-to- School Sales Tax Holiday and it was signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis.
During this sales tax holi- day period, qualifying items will be exempt from tax, in- cluding certain school sup- plies selling for $15 or less per item; clothing, footwear, certain accessories selling for $60 or less per item. It also applies to the first $1,000 of the sales price of personal computers and certain com-
puter-related accessories purchased for non-commer- cial home or personal use.
The sales tax holiday does not apply to: any item of clothing selling for more than $60; any school supply item selling for more than $15; books that are not otherwise exempt; computers and com-
puter-related accessories purchased for commercial purposes; rentals or leases of any eligible items; repairs or alterations of any eligible item3; or sales of any eligible items in a theme park, enter- tainment complex, public lodging establishment, or air- port.
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020