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Health and Human Services outlines services, warns federal cuts could shrink county programs
Summary
Coconino County Health and Human Services reported a roughly $33 million FY25 operating budget, warned about grant stop‑orders and potential federal cuts, and asked the board to sustain a small grants‑coordination and vehicle/software budget to preserve core services.
Coconino County Health and Human Services (HHS) presented a broad summary of programs and a budget outlook to the Board of Supervisors on May 6, telling supervisors the department is heavily dependent on external grants and that proposed federal funding cuts could force service reductions.
“Approximately 47% of our funding comes from external sources,” HHS director Michelle Oxland told the board. Oxland said the department’s operating budget for the current fiscal year is roughly $33 million and that the recommended FY26 request under county management is “a little over $25 million” because several grant awards and reimbursements that supported programming are no longer certain.
The department described program areas that serve seniors, families and rural residents: Meals on Wheels (20,000 meals in FY25), a diaper distribution program delivering more than 100,000 diapers to date, a growing WIC caseload, forensic interviewing for children, HIV/communicable‑disease work, teen‑pregnancy prevention and a clinic that has brought billing in‑house to retain more revenue. HHS also outlined “recovery and resiliency” work including Pathways to Community (re‑entry supports) and opioid/crisis programs anchored to the county’s specialty courts.
HHS emphasized two budget pressures. First, earlier stop orders and grant reductions already removed roughly $1.8 million in planned spending: “We had nine grants cut that affected over 13 staff and prevented us from putting an additional $1,800,000 into community services,” Oxland said. Second, the department flagged potential national‑level cuts in a White House budget proposal and related federal program reductions — examples cited included proposed reductions to housing and to several federal health and behavioral health programs. Oxland described what those would mean if implemented: large program losses at state and local levels that would reduce LIHEAP, CDC, SAMHSA and other streams that HHS uses for operating and client services.
HHS presented the county public‑health district revenue and maintenance‑of‑effort math to the board: the department receives a public‑health district tax (about $5.3 million in the current year) but much of that is already earmarked for mandated Title‑36 mental‑health obligations, immunization responsibilities and other duties; Oxland said the district tax left the department with roughly $384,000 to support non‑mandated local services after statutory allocations and county maintenance‑of‑effort payments. Oxland asked the board to continue recommended one‑time funds for an upfit to a new medical examiner vehicle, a software budget, and a one‑year extension of a grants‑coordinator position that currently supports grant writing countywide.
Oxland gave specifics on the grants‑coordinator’s impact: the staff member has assisted across county departments with more than 43 grant applications requesting more than $40 million, and the county has been awarded more than $23 million of that to date. HHS said retaining a grants coordinator helps leverage outside dollars and reduces the risk that county staff must choose between multiple competing grant applications.
The department also described operational innovations: bringing clinic billing in‑house (which reduced third‑party billing fees and freed revenue for local vaccine and clinic programs), vending machines that dispense Narcan and other harm‑reduction supplies, and mobile or outreach programs that serve remote communities.
Board members responded with questions and expressions of support; several supervisors asked staff to prepare targeted materials on how proposed federal budget changes would hit local programs so the board could pursue advocacy with state and federal representatives.
What HHS said it will do next: continue to pursue grant funding, preserve statutory services where possible, and return to the board with specific impact estimates if or when federal or state funding decisions remove anticipated revenue streams.
Quote: “We are educating, we’re advocating, and we’re preparing ourselves that maybe next year looks a little bit different,” Oxland said, summarizing the department’s approach to uncertainty.
