Oakland County finance committee reviews $53.8 million in federal grant funding, seeks regular updates

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee on Wednesday received an overview of the county’s federal grant funding, which staff said totals about $53,800,000 across multiple departments and offices for fiscal 2025.

Commissioner Taylor requested the presentation to help commissioners answer constituent questions and guide budget planning as the county heads into the 2026 budget process. "I requested it because we wanted to be, answer be able to answer questions that come before us," Taylor said during the meeting.

The presentation, delivered by county fiscal staff including Brian Webster, chief financial officer, Cheryl Johnson, deputy CFO, and Brent Schrab, financial analyst coordinator, broke the grants down by department, dollar amount and number of positions partially or wholly funded by grants. Staff told commissioners they would follow up with additional detail on grant counts and contract expiration dates.

Staff said the $53.8 million figure represents federal grants that the county has budgeted and tracked in fiscal 2025. Economic development and workforce programs were highlighted as among the most heavily dependent on federal grant dollars; staff said about $18,154,000 is associated with economic development-related grants and that workforce development positions are largely grant funded. "Workforce development is really the key component here in economic development. They are fully funded by grant dollars," Schrab said.

The presentation included department-level totals and position counts: staff reported roughly 17 positions in workforce development directly paid from grants; health and human services about $16,600,000 with 29 positions split between public health and neighborhood and housing development; circuit court about $12,100,000 with 43 positions (including front-of-the-court and treatment court funding); the sheriff’s office about $4,600,000 and 26 positions; emergency management and homeland security about $1,400,000 with four positions; and prosecuting attorney funding that includes child-support and foster-care related grants.

Staff clarified that the county’s childcare fund is not included in the federal-grant total because child care is recorded as a reimbursement rather than a federal grant in the county’s accounting. Schrab noted the childcare program affects about 65 positions and that it typically reimburses the county about 50 percent, with additional federal juvenile-justice reimbursements in some cases.

Commissioners pressed staff on grant duration and exposure, asking which grants are multiyear and which expire in fiscal 2025. Staff said some grants — including front-of-the-court and certain prosecuting-attorney grants — are multiyear, while others are annual and require renewal. Mary Larkin, victim services leader with the prosecutor’s office, clarified that a grant that funded an advocate and support clerk for the Oxford shooting victim services ended on Sept. 30, 2024, and is not continuing in fiscal 2025.

Committee members repeatedly raised the risk posed by potential federal funding changes. Commissioner Spitz asked how the county would respond if federal reimbursements stopped abruptly; staff said most grants are reimbursement-based and the county bills periodically rather than waiting until year-end, but that an immediate, retroactive cut with no opportunity to seek reimbursement could leave gaps that would require board action on appropriations.

Directives from the committee included requests that staff provide: - A count of individual grants and anticipated expiration dates (distinguishing single-year from multiyear awards). - Clarification on which grants flow through the state and are federally funded versus direct federal awards; staff said all federally sourced dollars should be included on the county’s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA). - Regular updates on material changes; several commissioners recommended at least a quarterly update and some requested updates at every Finance Committee meeting while the federal picture remains volatile.

The committee voted to receive the presentation file for the record. Commissioner Taylor moved to receive the file and the motion passed 5-0.

County staff and several department representatives who provided materials at the meeting were identified as resources for follow-up data. Staff said they would prepare a supplemental chart and a separate listing of grants with expiration dates for the next meeting.

Commissioners also asked staff to monitor related areas that may be affected by federal policy changes — including Medicaid reimbursement and other federally tied state programs — and to flag potential budget risks in advance of the 2026 budget process.