Michael, director of Job & Family Services, told commissioners the department’s 2026 operating budget is roughly $325 million (operations and staff costs only) and underscored three major budgetary threats: a change in SNAP administrative funding split, proposed state cost‑sharing tied to SNAP error rates, and sharply rising costs for children’s out‑of‑home care and other provider rates.

On SNAP, he said recent federal/state changes would move administrative-cost shares from a 50/50 split toward a 75/25 split (state covering more), and the county’s early estimate of local impact on the JFS internal budget is in the $3–5 million range. The presentation also noted that federal changes could require the state to share a portion of SNAP benefit costs for states with error rates above a trigger — the state is working to keep the rate at 6% or below to avoid penalties when counting begins in July 2026.

Michael warned that operational impacts could be significant: Medicaid pre‑certifications shifting from annual to every six months would roughly double caseworker work for that task; expanded work requirements for able‑bodied adults without dependents would add caseload monitoring; and programming changes have already caused some erroneous SNAP terminations that JFS staff had to correct.

Children’s services costs are rising sharply: director noted provider rates for residential placements and other levels of care have increased dramatically and the department has ongoing contract and placement pressures that push levy and operating expenditures higher. Current vacancies were listed across divisions (for example, 60 vacancies in children’s services); JFS said some frontline positions remain prioritized while hiring for others is frozen pending budget decisions.

The administration and commissioners discussed the difficulty of separating mandated from non‑mandated services funded by levies; both sides recognized some 'non‑mandated' levy‑funded programs serve as preventive interventions that reduce later general‑fund costs. JFS agreed to provide a more detailed memo and an estimate of the budgetary time that would be bought by reducing or eliminating non‑mandated levy programs so commissioners could weigh trade‑offs ahead of levy decisions.

Next steps: JFS will send a breakdown memo about children's‑services levy impacts and options, and the administration will work with the board to identify potential levy and general‑fund trade‑offs before finalizing appropriations.