Alleghany County commissioners question Social Services public-assistance budget amid unpredictable foster-care costs

Alleghany County commissioners and staff spent a significant portion of a budget work session reviewing the Department of Social Services (DSS) public-assistance line and the county's exposure to foster-care and other reimbursements.

Commissioners focused on the fact that the county is responsible for roughly 36% of a public-assistance account referenced in the budget documents and that the DSS director's originally submitted request had already been reduced. "If we reduce that section on the expenditure side, we do have to reduce the revenue," the county finance staff said, describing how expenditure reductions in that detailed public-assistance section must be matched by lower revenue estimates.

The discussion matters because the public-assistance section is largely reimbursement-driven and distinct from the county's general operating fund. County staff said the reimbursement structure means money budgeted in those DSS lines cannot be freely transferred to operating or general-fund purposes. "Each separate line in that detailed section represents something different," finance staff said, noting items may include foster care, foster-care transportation, food assistance and winter fuel assistance.

Commissioners and staff emphasized the uncertainty in foster-care demand. A county board member who also sits on the Social Services board said foster-care caseloads are volatile: "It may be a low number. It may be an extremely high number. There's no way to predict that." County staff added that when DSS runs short on reimbursement-eligible spending, the county must make up the difference.

Staff provided several figures during the review. They said the DSS submission had been reduced by 40% from the originally entered amount and that the county had received about 75% of the revenue anticipated for the current year in that reimbursable section (approximately $2.256 million projected). Staff also noted a rollover in the adoption-assistance fund of $132,556 identified in the documents.

Commissioners requested more detail before final decisions. Staff offered to log in to the budget system and return with line-by-line revenue and expense breakdowns, and one commissioner asked staff to review the last five years of DSS activity to calculate averages that might inform contingencies.

County staff also pointed to a $79,000 item in the DSS operating budget that had not been transferred correctly in the budget process and said that specific error would need correction.

The board did not take a formal vote on DSS lines at the session. Commissioners directed staff to provide detailed line-item revenue and expenditure breakdowns and to identify where any required corrections (including the $79,000 item) should be made ahead of the next meeting.