[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6273760,"mediaKeyId","2997539-e6bce93d5ea21f2dac9f28d243820cec","parentId",2997539,"title","Departments present FY26 estimates; juvenile program flags funding gap for behavior‑management contract","audioSeconds",4436,"startMs",2764000,"endMs",7200000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2997539-e6bce93d5ea21f2dac9f28d243820cec&start=2764&end=7200","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2997539-e6bce93d5ea21f2dac9f28d243820cec/thumbnail_2764000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6273760/Oklahoma-County/Oklahoma/Departments-present-FY26-estimates-juvenile-program-flags-funding-gap-for-behaviormanagement-contract","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6273760-07868368165c6d5caeec1679c34a68bb/orig.mp4?Expires=1770997291&Signature=VudNNk2q7GtS~pR5G4EyNmoXzMYd0l79e1s-XC7P-RB7xzJxXigj-SBRKHRQEeaEvsycr-c90yQeq-KWagWfLNco5Nf3wFHDN0yCpo1KqdrqVaDxOfDaCaZj1p8PX7N2YQrX028qk5P06xgj7Q1R2A5CcItkldqP2cPwY6Jko9vuVDRQoXD704XvhXQ6Oa3fWTY9rEGmydap67LZMjJG4oLm1vI3g95qq7AFBh-c5~aoRPUM~M5B3yypR4x8inCjr0uZM7SWdlQ6U0N5p57mwoiAsmPcY-QObaRw79LI-Wkeg4fLHuVdg452wozaGDIllPH2yMGB1Hk8~OuwxXBUvA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Oklahoma County, OK","date","2025-04-15T21:13:05.797Z","article","Several county departments presented their fiscal‑year 2026 estimate‑of‑needs worksheets on April 15; the budget committee received the estimates and asked follow‑up questions on specific items including computers, utilities and a juvenile behavior‑management contract.

The nut graf: emergency management, HR/health & safety, facilities, employee benefits (the committee approved renaming the social services line to “Pharmacy”) and the juvenile bureau all brought FY26 requests to the committee. Committee members received the submissions and asked departments to return with clarified numbers where formulas or carryovers produced inconsistencies.

Highlights and department notes:
- Emergency Management: Barnes (emergency management representative) said his general fund request retains an administrative assistant position, includes $90,000 in one‑time furniture to equip a new emergency operations center and asked to continue two cabin chassis units for fire/rescue partnerships and two additional outdoor warning devices. He told the committee the new operations center is anticipated to be available in October, which could reduce an existing $25,000 annual rental expense.

- HR / Health & Safety: Karen (HR/Health & Safety) requested modest increases for travel, memberships and professional certifications and asked to remove a $200 mileage placeholder from the estimate. She also requested vehicle funding to reduce staff use of personal vehicles in the field; committee staff said the estimate will be revised and resubmitted.

- Employee Benefits / County Pharmacy: Committee members agreed to rename the “Social Services” estimate to “Pharmacy” and asked staff to move a $163,000 senior‑centers line to the appropriate account. County benefits staff said the benefits budget will require revisions to reflect recent claims and carrier renewals; staff also noted the board’s prior direction to apply a 3% increase to employer and employee premiums when preparing projections.

- Facilities: Facilities staff asked to keep most capital flat but noted an insurance‑related reserve and routine capital requests; they also flagged costs tied to cleaning and project support and the need to track project‑related cleaning costs within project budgets when possible.

- Juvenile Bureau and Juvenile Detention: Grant (juvenile bureau staff member) requested two positions — a family engagement coordinator and an additional custodian — and flagged several cost drivers: a $48,000 estimate to replace ~40 district computers that will become unsupported in October; increased utility costs; and a behavior‑management/telehealth contract (Turnkey) that has been funded with ARPA dollars but currently will only be funded through December 2025 under the county’s funding plan. Juvenile leaders said Turnkey’s services (medication evaluation, psychiatric evaluations, individual counseling and GPS monitoring) have reduced incidents and helped manage higher detention populations, and they requested the committee consider options to close an anticipated gap if ARPA funds do not extend the contract.

Committee response and next steps: the committee voted to receive the departmental estimates, and staff committed to returning corrected worksheets where spreadsheet formulas or carryover treatment produced mismatches. Juvenile leaders were asked to pursue potential alternate funding sources and to provide a corrected contract/run‑rate so the committee can weigh options before ARPA funds expire.

Ending: Departments will submit revised estimates and supporting detail to the budget office; juvenile staff will return with options to cover the Turnkey contract beyond December 2025 if ARPA funds are not available.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","BET Special Meeting 04/15/2025","oneSentenceSummary","Emergency management, HR/health & safety, employee benefits (to be renamed Pharmacy), facilities and juvenile bureau presented FY26 estimate of needs. Juvenile leaders said a behavior‑management contract funded by ARPA runs only through Dec. 2025 and requested county follow‑up to close an anticipated funding gap.","taxTitle","Oklahoma County, Oklahoma","taxId",2676,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6273765,"Committee recommends $50,000 transfer to planning commission for Oklahoma County master plan; motion passes 5–3",111,624000,735000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2997539-e6bce93d5ea21f2dac9f28d243820cec&start=624&end=735","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2997539-e6bce93d5ea21f2dac9f28d243820cec/thumbnail_624000.jpg","/articles/6273765/Oklahoma-County/Oklahoma/Committee-recommends-50000-transfer-to-planning-commission-for-Oklahoma-County-master-plan-motion-passes-53","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6273765-0ac1f235dd04cee861ed40ceff7760b7/orig.mp4?Expires=1770997291&Signature=GuR~jpqUtZVWLRQSSPD2k6d2saKDxH7JnoxrIsWJ8OWwYTOdj46RkybrbBMNsVTPNKmqo~dS9iVqMLq2EK9tTWj7pqnTCfJPwEdKEwbMX9Di3oERtT9qO3nIcilN8dCVf5v1Bts1oz25A2eZAIw6tMXCBEI~IUF~ixF0n4ZykDpyRJCcuP1egNYHpeCnQxw6XcC9lOvjxlfwLAtSIRhpBNh0W5GNvT0NxjHS7~sMc8k9-RN-O5e0c8csPThfxlgzVRXKUC2c5Iei-8p-xIB2iryRsvFiehororThXOOlXw29fGXOuqYSDr3VxEN4XitYQ11ughVFf4xJ1sDY-AR1yQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","A county budget committee voted to recommend a $50,000 transfer from the general fund reserve (one‑time dollars) to the Planning Commission special revenue fund for an update to the Oklahoma County Master Plan.

The nut graf: the committee carried the transfer after internal discussion about whether to draw the money from one‑time or ongoing reserves. A committee member moved the transfer and another seconded; the committee approved the recommendation by voice vote with a recorded tally of five in favor and three opposed.

Committee discussion noted that members were comfortable funding the work from the planning commission special revenue fund and that the commission has historically managed its fee fund carefully. A member asked whether the transfer should be designated from one‑time reserves; the motion specified one‑time reserve dollars.

The committee chair called the vote. The transcript records: “All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No.” Minutes show the item passed 5–3; one member later said they had inadvertently voted yes.

Ending: The committee’s recommendation will go to the county’s budget board for formal transfer action.","Committee members voted 5–3 to recommend transferring $50,000 from one‑time general fund reserves to the Planning Commission’s special revenue fund to update the county master plan.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6273770,"Staff: backlog of medical claims pushed employee benefits fund about $118,000 over budget",92,228000,320000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2997539-e6bce93d5ea21f2dac9f28d243820cec&start=228&end=320","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2997539-e6bce93d5ea21f2dac9f28d243820cec/thumbnail_228000.jpg","/articles/6273770/Oklahoma-County/Oklahoma/Staff-backlog-of-medical-claims-pushed-employee-benefits-fund-about-118000-over-budget","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6273770-7a6eba8c1828a642fe88bd8e1fabaa8f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770997291&Signature=lh63fyXFm-OlBV21eejeivt8fRZPDxY7Awvnm793bUHykMoXyAqXmI4PShrBPbT3Rn-YdR2j4oiDESK9jtYTibI7U84AjbXCTi3U3fm5QrrRCpJzX5Q67r6q0csBcq7R7w6CtrMHtB~aoMy0HER7J0LdUY72-v7AYS88BkaE477SEN~4TO6CL8XMOWzjiDeGlzX9gLy-deW9MAjQueaqHYtqksf7u5vsp8NCt-mwqRQpGIng-klzJtEQCoyMYIJhoxSs-lW3fw~3NbJh752iL6dVwU3JC2aRFB-Txhs0SH-rbx3zxPDe3FlUhdLih51g5twxMDNEbcT9HWUUZ~7CnQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","John, a county staff member, told the Oklahoma County budget committee on April 15 that a backlog of medical and prescription claims has driven the county’s employee benefits spending above its earlier projection.

John said the county had budgeted a combined $852,000 increase for medical and prescription claims for the fiscal year, and “as of March 30, we had only gone into $90,000 of that $852,000 increase.” He told the committee that large weekly check registers received since then reflect a backlog the county’s third‑party administrator was clearing, and that the combined medical/prescription line has moved “about a hundred and 18,000 over what was budgeted.”

The nut graf: the jump matters because it creates a near‑term pressure on the general fund reserve assumptions for employee benefits. Committee members asked whether the backlog affected providers or reflected timing and whether the increased spend was limited to the current fiscal year; staff said the backlog is current and that the county is tracking it weekly.

County staff described the driver as manual processing for out‑of‑network/specialty claims that many large carriers do not process the same way they handle in‑network claims. John said carriers such as Blue Cross and Cigna typically do not process certain specialty claims and that these out‑of‑network cases are “a different process” that has produced a several‑week backlog. He told the committee the backlog appears to be about six weeks, and that the claims are being pushed forward to keep providers paid while the third‑party administrator catches up.

Committee members pressed for quantification and timelines. When asked how much of the backlog remained, John responded that he was awaiting a detailed dollar amount and a timeline from the administrator. He said his office has asked for the outstanding dollar total and a schedule for catching up and is monitoring registers weekly.

Clarifying details provided in the meeting include:
- The budgeted increase for medical and prescription claims: $852,000 (staff statement).
- Amount drawn against that reserve as of March 30: $90,000 (staff statement).
- Current reported overage after recent registers: roughly $118,000 (staff statement).
- Staff estimate of the backlog lag: about six weeks (staff statement).

Staff said the issue is not yet ‘‘catastrophic’’ but that the committee should be aware because if the higher claim volumes continue through the end of the fiscal week/year it could require additional budget action. The committee asked staff to continue weekly reporting and to return with the administrator’s breakdown and expected catch‑up schedule.

Ending: County staff will bring further updates to the committee after receiving the administrator’s detailed backlog report; the committee requested weekly monitoring until the backlog is cleared.","County staff told the budget committee a backlog of out-of-network and specialty medical claims created a sudden spending spike that left employee benefits about $118,000 over the current projection; the county is monitoring weekly and seeking details from its TPA.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Departments present FY26 estimates; juvenile program flags funding gap for behavior‑management contract

Committee recommends $50,000 transfer to planning commission for Oklahoma County master plan; motion passes 5–3

Staff: backlog of medical claims pushed employee benefits fund about $118,000 over budget