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Public health urges clearer grant accounting, seeks funding to preserve parent‑guidance program
Summary
Public‑health staff told commissioners they must split large grant 'pots' into discrete grant lines to satisfy federal reimbursement requirements, reported an unresolved reimbursement dating to last July, and asked for a contingency increase to keep an $18,000 parent‑guidance contract in place.
Madison County public‑health director Emily told the county commissioners the office needs to reconfigure how it records grant revenue and expense to meet federal and state reimbursement rules and to avoid delayed payments.
"I'm struggling right now to get reimbursed for one of our grants since July of last year," Emily said, describing ongoing work with the Department of Public Health and Human Services and the county attorney's office to resolve the matter. She said the problem stems from using large, pooled 'pots' for multiple grants rather than tracking dollars and object codes by individual task order.
To reduce that risk, Emily proposed moving $100,000 into a new, dedicated supplemental‑workforce grant line and urged finance staff to create specific object‑code accounts for each award so reimbursements match federal requirements. She said doing so would make grant accounting auditable and reduce the team's current spreadsheet work.
Emily also asked the commissioners to budget $18,000 next year for a parent‑guidance contract with the Cook Center for Human Connection, citing rising enrollment and positive usage data. "That contract has grown in coaching and attendance; it's too important to keep piecing together," she said. The funding, she said, should sit in contract payments rather than being split across multiple departments.
Separately, Emily asked the board to raise the contingency fund that supports local nonprofit partners and mental‑health services. She cited a request from Action, Inc. and said the contingency should rise from about $38,700 to approximately $60,200 to ensure continued service contracts while the county negotiates multi‑year arrangements.
Commissioners did not vote on the contract at the meeting. Emily said she would work with finance to create the new grant lines and return with budget language and fiscal bookkeeping entries once the finance office has established the accounts.
