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Coconino County officials hear Health and Human Services budget; director warns of federal funding risk
Summary
Health and Human Services presented a $33 million operating picture and program highlights to the Board of Supervisors and outlined risks from possible federal funding cuts, proposed limited extensions and routine increases to cover vehicle and software costs.
Coconino County Health and Human Services Director Michelle Oxland presented the department’s fiscal outlook to the Board of Supervisors on May 6, describing a department that relies heavily on federal and grant funding while pressing to maintain services to seniors, families and people with behavioral health needs.
“We have approximately 47 of their total funding coming from external funding,” Oxland told the board, summarizing a funding mix that includes federal grants, state pass-throughs and county health-district revenue. She said the department’s current-year operating budget is about $33 million and that recommended manager actions would reduce next year’s baseline to about $25 million if stop orders on federal awards remain in place.
The presentation outlined the department’s work across community action, population health, outbreak response, recovery and resiliency, regulatory services and the county medical examiner. Oxland described expanding meal and diaper distribution programs, a push to bring mental-health screening and clinical services into schools, and a move to bring billing for clinic services in-house to retain revenue previously paid to third-party billers.
Oxland also said the department has scaled down staff hired under COVID-era grants and is seeking only a small set of continuity items from the manager’s recommended budget: motor-pool and mechanical repair support, a 5% consumer-price-index adjustment for operating lines and a one-year extension of the countywide grants coordinator position. The grants coordinator, Oxland said, has aided countywide grant submissions and she credited the position with helping secure more than $23 million in awards this year.
Board members pressed Oxland on a short list of large federal programs that could be at risk under the federal budget proposals the department is tracking, including LIHEAP fuel-assistance funds, Ryan White HIV program funds, CDC grants, SAMHSA behavioral-health grants and community housing-related programs. Oxland cautioned that cuts at the federal level would translate quickly into fewer services locally. “We have to be ready to respond,” she said.
The board approved the manager’s incremental recommendations for Health and Human Services, including the CPI adjustment, vehicle support and a one-year extension of the grants-coordinator position. Supervisors and staff also agreed to monitor federal budget actions and bring follow-up items to future meetings if stop orders or grant losses force program changes.
Oxland closed by noting the department’s broad role as a public-safety and prevention agency: “We track and implement our strategic plan, and we are building a ‘no wrong door’ model to increase the community knowledge of our programs,” she said.
