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Career Support Solutions asks Putnam Legislature for larger county grant as contract-agency shortfall grows
Summary
Career Support Solutions, a Putnam County contract agency serving people with disabilities, asked the legislature’s rules committee for a one-time increase from $15,000 to $30,000 and described programs that would be at risk if funding is not found; legislators said money might come from a sub‑contingency bucket but no allocation was made.
Tina, executive director of Career Support Solutions, told the Putnam County Rules, Enactments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee on Feb. 19 that her nonprofit — which provides job coaching, internships, and long‑term on‑the‑job supports for residents with mental and developmental disabilities — is seeking an increase in county support from $15,000 to $30,000 for 2025.
The request followed a description of the organization’s work: “We work with about a hundred disabled individuals who live in Putnam County,” Tina said, and “we provide workforce readiness skills, we teach classes, we work with high school students, we work with adults, we work with seniors.” She said the agency is trying to close a gap in a roughly $300,000 annual operating budget and that “at $30,000, it’s still only, $30 a month” per client.
Why it matters: Committee members framed the request against a larger shortfall between funding asked for by local contract agencies and what the county budgeted this year. Auditor Michelle Sharkey prepared a chart showing that in aggregate Putnam’s 2025 budget left a roughly $144,000 variance between what contract agencies requested and what the county appropriated. The legislature set aside a sub‑contingency line of $75,000 in the tentative budget; after prior allocations the available sub‑contingency in committee discussion was reported as roughly $71,008.93.
What committee members said and did: Legislator Montgomery and others thanked Tina for the program and urged rapid follow‑up. Committee leaders explained that the legislature cannot itself initiate most fund transfers and cited Article 707 of the county charter as limiting the legislature’s ability to move budget lines without a county executive fund‑transfer request. Chairman Birmingham said he would speak with the county executive and the audit committee to seek a timely solution. No money was allocated during the meeting.
Context and next steps: Committee members suggested two routes: (1) ask the county executive to submit a formal fund‑transfer request moving money from sub‑contingency or contingency into specific contract‑agency lines, or (2) hold further meetings with the contract agencies to allocate the existing $71,008.93 equitably. Several committee members said they would try to meet individually with Legislator Elnor (who had questions about one contract) before bringing any prefiled resolution to the full legislature on March 4.
Ending: Tina and representatives of other contract agencies, including the Putnam Arts Council, remained at the meeting. Committee members said they understood deadlines and would try to get a fund‑transfer request in place in time for the full legislature’s March meeting, but stressed that a formal transfer would need to be initiated by the county executive rather than the legislature itself.
