Committee advances Veterans Services Fund awards, agrees to seek Veterans Commission input on transfer of leftover funds

The Cuyahoga County Finance and Budgeting Committee on Monday advanced a package of awards from the county's Veterans Services Fund and agreed to seek additional input from the Veterans Services Commission before final council action on a transfer of leftover dollars to the general fund.

Laura Black, county council staff, said the resolution (No. 20250177) reflects the dollars currently in the Veterans Services Fund, established by chapter 7 11 of the county code to provide services to veterans in Cuyahoga County. She told the committee the available balance was just under $1.7 million, with approximately $1,120,000 from 2024 and about $560,000 from 2025, and presented awards requested by six organizations totaling $785,000.

The proposed awards included $85,000 for Cuyahoga Community College to support veteran scholarships and student services; $100,000 for the Cuyahoga Land Bank for residential rehab projects serving veterans, in coordination with partners such as Ride with Valor, DNA Rising and Purple Heart Homes; $200,000 to the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland for civil legal services for low-income veterans; $100,000 to Joseph and Mary's Home for medical respite care for medically fragile veterans experiencing homelessness; $100,000 to Towards Employment for career pathways and wraparound services; and $100,000 to United Way of Greater Cleveland for its Help to Vets program and 2-1-1 hotline supports. Black also said the resolution sets aside $100,000 for a pilot program to train service animals for veterans in partnership with the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter.

"The item reflects all of the dollars that are currently in the fund," Black said during her presentation.

Colleen Cotter, executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, described how the legal services would be used. "These funds will be used to support low income veterans in civil matters," she said, citing eviction defense, foreclosure defense and help accessing public benefits as common examples and offering a case example of a veteran helped with estate planning documents.

Several council members voiced concern about a proposal to transfer roughly $898,958 in leftover fund dollars back to the general fund to reimburse prior county spending tied to the new Veterans Services Commission building. "I'm against any money being taken from the veterans to go to a general fund when we're not gonna know where that money for sure is gonna be used," one council member said.

County council staff and the Office of Budget Management explained the transfer would mechanically return unspent veteran-service dollars to the general fund to offset capital investment the county previously made on the building at Chester and 40th, and said they believed prior general fund spending on the project exceeded the amount proposed to be transferred. OBM staff committed to provide an exact accounting to the council.

Council President said staff had proactively reached out to likely applicants and included a new companion-animal training pilot at the request of council members. He urged staff follow-up and defended the comprehensive outreach to identify needs before reimbursement to the general fund.

After discussion, the committee agreed to do outreach to the Veterans Services Commission and revisit the item at its June 2 meeting; the chair called to move the resolution forward for second reading so the council could receive any VSC feedback before the final council vote.

Next steps: OBM will provide a detailed accounting of prior general fund expenditures tied to the Veterans Services Commission building and staff will reach out to the Veterans Services Commission before the Finance and Budgeting Committee reconvenes on June 2.