By Kayla BranchStaff writerkbranch@oklahoman.comOklahoma County officials almost lapsed roughly $5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding last year until an extension to spend the money was approved by Congress in late December. Now, officials have until the end of 2021 to spend those dollars, known as CARES Act funds. The county received about $47 million in April 2020 to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, and officials were in a frenzy last fall debating how to spend the money before the original December deadline. "It is frustrating because, especially with our small business program, we would not have done it in such a rush had we known the deadline was going to be extended,” said Commissioner Carrie Blumert. Commissioner Kevin Calvey, who pushed to give all the county’s relief funding to the county jail, predicted an extension, but his counterparts said they couldn’t rely on assumptions. “We didn’t get any directives,” Commissioner Brian Maughan said.Read more on NewsOK.com