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Beltrami County health and human services says it exceeded FY2025 savings goal, reports $1.45 million in net savings
Summary
Beltrami County Health & Human Services told commissioners it met and exceeded its FY2025 savings goal through program, process and workforce adjustments, reporting $1,452,000 in net savings while noting lingering budget pressures and possible general-fund transfers.
Anne Linseff, director of Health and Human Services, told the Beltrami County Board that the department faced more than $1 million in reimbursement losses in 2024 tied to child‑welfare funding streams and responded with programmatic, process and workforce changes to avoid raising the levy.
Linseff said the department set targets across five program areas and exceeded several of them: a $200,000 goal to reduce costs tied to high‑level “rule 5” placements resulted in $407,000 in savings; a $55,000 goal for flexible client funding was trimmed by $73,000 by relying more on state and federal grants; and revenue increases tied to the Family First Prevention Services Act produced $202,000 more than planned. "We saved $1,452,000," Linseff said, noting the department met its overall target of $1,073,000 for FY2025.
Finance manager Josh Burnham detailed process changes and monthly budget reporting now provided to managers, which he said improved oversight of roughly 1,400 line items. Burnham also described tools such as a Power BI dashboard and monthly color‑coded expenditure reports meant to help managers avoid overspending.
The department also reduced headcount through attrition, removing five positions. Linseff said that workforce adjustments were projected to save $416,000 but ultimately saved $358,000 because departing staff were paid below the assumed average pay grade.
Commissioners thanked staff for the work while noting remaining pressures. One commissioner said the department still required a roughly $300,000 transfer from the prior year’s general fund; Linseff confirmed a prior $300,000 shift and said she anticipates another request but did not provide a final number, saying the amount was "not specified" at the meeting.
Linseff cautioned that cost shifts, funding formula changes and statutory workload increases remain ongoing challenges and that unexpected expenditures — including changes to nursing facility cost share rules that took effect July 1, 2025 — will continue to affect future budgets.
The board did not take a formal vote during the presentation. Staff said they would continue to monitor outcomes and bring any formal budget requests to the board as needed.
