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Waseca County staff warn state grant cuts could push levy higher in 2026 draft
Summary
County public-health staff told commissioners on Aug. 19 that decreases in state grant funding and recent salary regradings have increased uncertainty in the preliminary 2026 budget and could add roughly a 5% levy implication unless alternative grant sources are confirmed.
County public-health staff told the Waseca County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 19 that recent reductions in expected state grant funding and several salary and grade changes are increasing uncertainty in the county’s preliminary 2026 budget.
Speaker 2, who presented the department’s budget update, said some positions funded through a regional community health board (CHB) are shared across counties and are 100% grant funded in Waseca County — “Ashley, our community health coordinator and Paul Leonard, community health educator planner… are employed by Waseca County, and they are in our budget,” she said — and that staff are trying to avoid any tax-levy impact where possible. Still, she added, “we kept that as a tax levy impact for the time being” for one mental-health role the county is attempting to fit into grant parameters.
Finance staff and Speaker 4 walked commissioners through differences between a June draft and the August budget presentation, saying the most recent calculations produce roughly a 5% levy implication driven in part by grant timing and pending legislative and state decisions. Speaker 4 cautioned that the August numbers remain provisional: the county typically receives final public-health grant allocations in August; until those are locked in, the levy and expense projections may change.
Commissioners pressed staff on specific line items, including professional and technical services and mileage. Staff said some contractor costs reflect new duties such as administering SHIP mini-grants and paying community partner awards (about $27,000) that will bring corresponding revenue. Staff also described temporary grade increases for four positions and a net 0.2 full-time equivalent increase tied to retention measures.
Why it matters: county budgets depend on grant flows and timing. Staff recommended conservative assumptions while continuing to pursue grant-eligible funding options (including cannabis and opioid-prevention grants) to avoid shifting costs to local taxpayers. The county will revisit numbers as state grants are finalized in the coming weeks.
