County manager briefs council on potential federal funding freezes and local program exposure

San Juan County Manager Sally Hudson updated the County Council on Feb. 25 about federal actions and memos over the last several weeks that briefly halted some federal payments and the knock‑on risks for county programs.

Hudson summarized the timeline: an early‑January executive order at the federal level directed agency spending freezes; the Office of Management and Budget issued a memo implementing that pause; courts then issued judicial stays and memos were rescinded at points during January. Hudson said the executive order remains in place and the pause/resume sequencing has caused uncertainty across agencies. She said a deferred‑resignation program and a wave of notices affecting probationary federal employees have led to staffing reductions across many federal departments, with knock‑on effects for state pass‑through funds.

Hudson asked county departments to inventory programs that depend on federal pass‑through or direct grants. She reported department findings for the council:

- Emergency Management (DEM) — approximately $160,000 in active federal awards/state pass‑throughs that support radios, training (including a $9,000 HAZMAT training line), mitigation planning (about $100,000 toward a Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan update). DEM is a small office (about 1.25 FTEs), so even modest federal cuts would strain baseline operations.

- Health & Community Services — roughly $700,000 in federal grant funding annually plus about $90,000 in Medicaid match; those funds support WIC, vaccine work, SNAP‑Ed, prevention, senior services and emergency preparedness staffing. Hudson said many state pass‑throughs rely on federal dollars and that some state officials are looking to preserve services but face their own budget shortfalls.

- Other departments noted potential exposure: victim‑advocate funding in the prosecutor’s office, child‑support subgrants (about $40,000), environmental stewardship and derelict‑vessel programs that rely heavily on federal and state grants.

Hudson cautioned none of these programs had been cut as of Feb. 25 but asked the council to monitor potential risks and consider contingency planning, noting that even small federal grants can be material to small county programs. She said the county is tracking judicial actions and program notices and will return with more detailed local estimates if the federal situation changes.

Council members asked for follow‑up detail by department lines (local funding shares and contingency options) and discussed local advocacy and potential legislative remedies at the state level; members also urged careful communication to avoid creating unnecessary fear among staff while preparing practical contingency plans.