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Commissioners approve $3.5 million amendment to health IGA with state
Summary
The Coos County Board of Commissioners approved the 10th amendment to intergovernmental agreement 185806 with the Oregon Health Authority, a roughly $3.5 million allocation for Coos Health & Wellness covering the second half of the biennium; commissioners clarified the funding comes through federal dollars passed via the state, not county property tax.
The Coos County Board of Commissioners on June 5 approved the 10th amendment to intergovernmental agreement number 185806 with the Oregon Health Authority, authorizing the county’s interim director to sign the document that funds Coos Health & Wellness for the second half of the biennium.
Commissioners noted the change increases the county’s allocation for public-health services. One commissioner described the sum as “3 and a half million dollars, which is a significant increase over what Coos Health and Wellness received in times past,” and another explained that Coos Health and Wellness is “funded solely by, really federal dollars that come down through the state. They don't use any county property tax money whatsoever.”
Board members asked whether the funds are broadly available. A member of the public asked whether services are available “to everybody equally,” raising a constitutional equal-protection concern; commissioners replied that constitutionality is a judicial matter and that the program serves a third of the county population enrolled in Oregon Health Plan (OHP). The board voted to approve the amendment without changes.
Why it matters: the amendment provides the near-term funding that supports public-health delivery in Coos County through the end of the current biennium. Commissioners emphasized that although the money is public, it arrives via federal grants routed through the state rather than local property-tax revenue.
What’s next: the interim director was authorized to sign the amendment and the county will proceed with the funding and administration outlined in the IGA.
