NC rolls out rent relief for restaurants as they brace for a long, difficult winter
As restaurants prepare for an uncertain winter, North Carolina is expanding a relief program to help more businesses stay afloat.
This week, Gov. Roy Cooper announced that restaurants are now eligible for up to $20,000 in rent and mortgage interest relief under the state’s Mortgage, Utility and Rent Relief program, which is part of the CARES Act passed earlier this year in response to economic strains caused by COVID-19.
North Carolina set aside $40 million for the MURR program earlier this year.
Lynn Minges, executive director of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, said roughly half that amount remains.
“We’re most appreciative for any relief that we can get for restaurants,” Minges said. “All restaurants are struggling. It’s been a very tough several months.”
How restaurants qualify
The MURR program can be applied to up to five months of rent or mortgage insurance for restaurants, from April to August. Restaurants are eligible for a maximum of $20,000 for up to two locations, potentially totaling $40,000 for one business.
To qualify for relief, restaurants must already have paid their rent for a given month and will be reimbursed by the state. One wrinkle, though, is businesses can’t already have received federal Paycheck Protection Program funds, which many small businesses received over the summer and used for payroll and rent.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Cooper closed restaurant dining rooms for about two months, from March 17 to May 22. Since then, restaurants have operated at 50% capacity. Other executive orders have established an 11 p.m. curfew for serving alcohol and reopened outdoor seating at bars at 30% capacity.
Many restaurant owners have said operating at those levels isn’t sustainable. Federal and state relief packages were put together over the summer, but Minges said a second stimulus bill is needed or more restaurants will close.
“We’re still optimistic (Congress) will come into town and get something together,” Minges said. “That is critical for many of these restaurants, many will not survive the winter.”
‘Many just aren’t going to make it’
Minges painted a bleak image of North Carolina’s restaurant industry in 2020. No company, she said, is likely to be profitable this year, while many others have drained business reserves and personal savings in hopes the cash could get their restaurants through the pandemic.
“This has drug on, reserves are depleted, some have taken on loans,” Minges said. “Without another round of PPP or some other relief, many just aren’t going to make it. The truth is many restaurants are living month to month.”
On Tuesday, Cooper tightened restrictions on some COVID-19 measures, including limiting indoor gatherings to 10 people instead of 25. Coronavirus cases have climbed sharply through October and November, reaching their highest point of the pandemic this week. While restaurant restrictions were unchanged, Cooper said the move backward is meant to send a signal that people are more vulnerable indoors.
“The science shows the transmission of this virus is much greater indoors,” Cooper said Tuesday. “The more people gather together, the easier this virus can spread. We saw increased spread from social gatherings in October.”
In weekly briefings, North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said a common source of virus spread is people not wearing masks while socializing with people they don’t live with.
Minges said restaurants aren’t playing a major role in that kind of spread.
“Largely what we’re hearing through contact tracing, clusters of new cases are coming from uncontrolled places, families and friends in homes that aren’t wearing masks or social distancing,” Minges said. “I’m not aware of spread happening in restaurants, where social distancing and masks are required. Those seem to be in pretty good shape.”
For now, Minges is hopeful restaurants will be able to keep the status quo restrictions through the winter. A setback, she said, would be crippling for a teetering industry.
“We believe we can get through this without having another shutdown,” Minges said. “It’s vitally important for our industry.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 11:08 AM.
