HONOLULU(KHON2) -- The city is getting closer to providing relief to businesses derailed by construction along Dillingham Blvd. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You But the Rail Transit Mitigation Fund, announced in July, hasn't paid anyone yet because the city had to develop rules, a way accept applications, and award the funds. Andy Kawano, director of the city Department of Budget and Fiscal Services (BFS), said they are handling the program. "We're testing the portal right now and our platform, grant platform, and we should have it ready to be opened in the mid January time frame," Kawano said. Previous attempts to offer aid to businesses along the Skyline route failed. In 2018 , $750,000 earmarked for business relief, was put back into the general fund because the city had no way to disperse the funds. The extra time creating the platform was essential to getting the money to qualifying businesses. Kawano said when the portal goes live mid January, they'll likely accept applications for two weeks. Developer releases new renderings of New Aloha Stadium project "But if in the first week we receive enough applications we believe that are going to be eligible for payout, we'll probably notify the public that we're going to close the portal," he explained. Honolulu City Council allocated $250,000 for the fund, this go-round, with a maximum pay out of $10,000 per business. Kawano said they expect to award around 22 businesses. To qualify, businesses must be located within the construction zone, in operation from Jan 1, 2022 to the date of submission, with an annual maximum revenue of $750,000, 15 or fewer employees and be locally owned. Anthony Han, owns Soul chicken across from Hawaii Community College. Han's business is one of roughly 200 businesses in the work zone. He said his sales have dropped 40 to 50% since construction started. "I think $10,000 is not really helping to me because this is very difficult to survive," Han explained. "People don't want to come. Even Uber Eats, they just try to just hold it from delivery service because it is takes time because of traffic." Still, Han said he does plan to apply. According to the HART website the Dillingham utilities relocation construction is supposed to be finished by early 2026, with construction of the rail through this corridor completed by 2030. But business owners aren't sure they can survive that long. Elvin Lau owns Elvin's Bakery in Kapalama Shopping Center. He doesn't qualify for the grant but has lost over 35% of his revenue. "I think I'll be retired in the next five or 10 years so by the time the rail is ready I'll probably be retired. Hopefully, I can survive till then," Lau said. "But a lot of small business will be gone." Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news The city plans to announce all the details for the program in the coming weeks. And Kawano said he thinks they will be able to disperse the funds by this spring.