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County administrator warns of federal and state budget changes that could affect local services and staffing
Summary
County Administrator provided updates: a $50,000 CDBG planning grant is executed, shared revenue projections modestly increased, but federal budget changes could cause Medicaid and SNAP cuts affecting local residents and services; state aid created a $183,000 county allocation tied to counties with tribal headquarters.
County Administrator Dan Grady briefed the Ashland County Executive Committee on July 15 about state and federal budget items that will affect county programs and staffing.
Grady reported the county's CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) contract had been fully executed, freeing $50,000 for planning and enabling the county to hire Northwest Regional for planning work. He also outlined state-level budget items favorable to the county, including a 3% increase in county transportation aid (GTA) and a newly created county aid program for counties with tribal headquarters that will provide an estimated $183,000 to Ashland County annually for the 2026-27 biennium.
But Grady also warned of federal cuts that could have significant local impacts. "The long run is we're looking at 244 people in Ashland County who are gonna lose health insurance as a result of the cuts to Medicaid," Grady said, adding that reductions to SNAP and other federal nutrition and public-health funding are likely. He said those changes could raise uncompensated care for hospitals and increase pressure on county health and human services caseloads.
Grady said the county would see a modest shared-revenue change (he cited a 3.4% figure for the next year and 2.1% the following year after federal adjustments) and noted that certain municipal bond tax exemptions were preserved in part by advocacy. He also said the state had increased funding for conservation and sustainable-forestry grants and that some extension positions and forestry-related posts had improved funding levels.
Grady told the committee the county should expect increased HHS demand and that the county's finance packet outlined more details. Committee members asked clarifying questions about figures, and Grady pointed them to the finance committee documents for the full analysis.
The committee did not take formal action on the budget summary at the July 15 meeting; Grady said more detail would be presented to the finance committee and in future budget discussions.
