Legislature amends DSS year‑end transfer to use fund balance after county attorney flags reserve issue

The legislature considered a Health & Human Services Committee‑sponsored year‑end budget transfer for the Department of Social Services to address a shortfall of roughly $1,490,000 identified during the audit. Finance Director Lori Skerritt described the overrun as driven by higher childcare costs and increased Medicaid weekly shares and recommended using a mandated contingency reserve that had been set aside previously.

County Attorney Maury Josephson advised that the county could not expend the tax stabilization reserve immediately because corrective actions were needed to regularize how the reserve had been established. "The tax stabilization reserve funds are not available to be expended at this time until corrective action is taken with respect to the manner in which that fund was established," Josephson said, noting the matter would require privileged or legal review.

After discussion and a brief postponement, the legislature amended the resolution to appropriate the $1,490,000 from general fund balance (rather than the stabilization reserve). The amended motion carried with one recorded no vote (12‑1). Director Skerritt warned that delaying the transfer could hold up audit and AFR reporting to the state, and members emphasized the need for further corrective action paperwork and for administration to follow up on reserve language during the audit process.

The amendment preserves audit timeliness while the county pursues corrective steps to wind down or reclassify the stabilization reserve.