Second round of RAD Card funds gone within hours

A second round of funding for Tuolumne County’s RAD card program ran out within hours of being added Tuesday afternoon.

About $89,000 in additional matching funds became available about 3 p.m. Tuesday and was gone by shortly after 8 p.m. that night, after the initial round of $455,000 was snatched up by consumers in less than two weeks.

The funds are used to double the amount of money that people put on their RADCARD account by up to $100 per person, which can only be spent at local businesses that are signed up to accept the cards as payment.

For example, anyone who purchases a $100 card via the app will end up with a total of $200 to spend at participating local businesses. The cards are sold in increments of $25.

There were more than 170 local businesses registered to accept the cards as of Tuesday.

The cards can only be purchased via the RADCard smartphone app that can be downloaded from the Apple and Google Play app stores.

Businesses must also have a smartphone with the RADCARD app installed to scan the unique QR code assigned to the customer’s smartphone in order to complete the transaction.

Anyone who doesn’t have a smartphone or the technical prowess to download the app and sign up for the program will not be able to take advantage of the extra spending money.

County officials have touted the program as a success since the initial round of funding was quickly depleted, despite a number of technical issues experienced by some users.

Some county residents have also complained about missing out on the initial round of funding due to people abusing the system and claiming more of the matching funds than the intended $100-limit per person.

App developer Josh Bridegroom, the chief executive officer of the nonprofit organization Modesto Improvement Partnership Inc., acknowledged there’s no way for them to stop people from making multiple accounts using different emails to claim more than $100 in additional matching funds.

People from outside of the county are also able to purchase cards and receive matching funds, though they can only be spent at the participating businesses within Tuolumne County.

Cole Przybyla, the county’s innovation and business assistance director, said he believed the speed of which the additional funds on Tuesday were depleted is a testament to people’s interest in the program.

Funding for the second round came from $100,000 provided by the Sonora Area Foundation, which included $50,000 from individual donations.

Only $89,000 was made available due to administration and transaction fees paid to the Modesto Improvement Partnership Inc., which the county Board of Supervisors contracted to set up and administer the program locally.

The first round of funding came from $500,000 that the board set aside through the initial $5.3 million the county received this year from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden in March.

An additional $15,000 was contributed to the first round of RAD card funding by the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau, Sonora Area Foundation and Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which provided a total of $455,000 after developer fees.

Some county supervisors have expressed interest in potentially adding more rounds of funding for RAD cards, either from the $2.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds still remaining out of the $5.3 million given to the county this year, or the additional $5.3 million the county is expected to receive in May through the legislation.

For more information or with questions about the program, contact Przybyla at cprzybyla@co.tuolumne.ca.us or (209) 288-4030.