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County Council questions $2.5 million Community Connect portal request after roughly $8 million invested
Summary
Council members pressed HHS staff about the Community Connect eligibility portal, which HHS says has received about $8.1 million and requires $2.5 million more to complete its original HHS scope; staff and councilmembers disagreed over utilization and whether to fund maintenance only or finish the scope.
Councilmembers pressed HHS staff on May 7 during the FY27 review about a $2.5 million request to finish and expand the Community Connect eligibility portal for HHS programs after prior investments that staff said total approximately $8.1 million.
HHS Chief Operating Officer Mark Hodge told the council that the requested $2.5 million "gets us to the end of our original scope for the Community Connect portal for HHS," and would add final county eligibility programs into the online system so applicants do not have to submit duplicate paper forms. "We would be happier to be able to finish our original scope, if possible," Hodge said, while adding that if the council chose to fund only maintenance HHS would "keep the lights on" but not expand functionality.
Council members argued about functionality and value for money. Several said the portal is not yet user-friendly and questioned whether the system has achieved expected staff time savings. Councilmember Kristin Mink, who has used the portal, said it is not intuitive for a resident to identify which benefits they can apply for and cited missing buttons to apply for rental assistance.
Utilization figures were discussed and appeared inconsistent in the hearing record: council staff read that 191 applications were submitted via the portal in 2024 and 41 in 2025 so far; HHS staff later reported total county investment at about $8.1 million and staff also referenced 1,000 users in a separate line of questioning. The conflicting numbers were raised at the dais as part of the cost-benefit debate.
Why it matters: the portal is intended to reduce staff time and make county programs more accessible online, but council members want clearer metrics and a plan for ownership (TEBS vs. HHS) before committing more development dollars.
Next steps: The enhancement was placed on the reconciliation list in two tranches (development and maintenance) for final council decisions next week; HHS and TEBS were asked to provide clearer go/no-go milestones and usage metrics to justify further development.
