The St. Joseph County Health Department told the Budget Administration Committee that a pandemic-era grant was terminated and unspent funds — $358,679.70 — were clawed back by the granting agency as of March 24.

Amy Rupi, director of finance for the Department of Health, said the grant termination required the department to reduce the appropriation amounts in fund 8952 to zero because “the money's gone.” She said the funds were tied to COVID-era programs and were reclaimed when the grantor determined the pandemic-related eligibility ended.

The department also requested a $30,000 transfer to purchase a second XRF (x-ray fluorescence) analyzer for lead risk assessments. Rupi said the health department has two lead risk assessors and that one existing XRF is older and frequently sent out for repair. She said the new unit is intended for field use to test for lead-based paint in homes.

Rupi told the committee that the department had planned a PFAS water study but decided to postpone or cancel it for now because of reduced funding; she said the health department would continue searching for outside grants but did not anticipate starting the PFAS study with current funding levels.

Separately, the department requested a net-zero salary amendment to move positions funded from the local public health services (HFI) fund into the county health fund. Rupi said a new law requires screening HFI-funded service recipients for Indiana residency and lawful presence, so the department wants to shift affected immunization and lead-risk program staff to county funding to continue offering services without the screening constraint.

Committee members moved the appropriation-reduction and the XRF transfer forward with favorable recommendations; they also recommended the staff funding shift favorably.

Why it matters: The clawback reduces available grant funding for health programs. The XRF purchase aims to preserve lead-inspection capacity for homes, and the staffing shift responds to a state-level change in eligibility screening for HFI-funded services.

What's next: The appropriation reduction, the XRF purchase and the fund-shift request move to the full council for final action.