The Union County Health Department (UCHD) is closer to finalizing its 2019 budget.
At a special budget meeting recently, the board of health approved the final version of the budget. Next week, it’ll be reviewed by the county’s auditor, treasurer and prosecutor.
Among the highlights for next year include adjustments due to factoring in employee benefits, some potential retirements, the upcoming building renovations and how clinics are funded.
“We haven’t budgeted for a lot of change,” UCHD Health Commissioner Jason Orcena said. “It really has been to continue the programs and continue the evaluation of programs.”
Orcena also said the budget may look a little inflated because of the renovation project planned. He said it was budgeted for 2018, but those unused funds were moved to 2019.
He also said a large contributor to the budget is the Water Pollution Control fund, which repairs failing septic systems.
The commissioner said the cost of employee health benefits increasing is also “acting as a cost driver.”
What was unusual for Orcena to see this year was how the department had to budget for three people possibly retiring in 2019.
“We don’t usually have possibly three retirements in the same year, so having to fill those is kind of unusual for us to have,” Orcena said.
Fiscal officer Paul Bresson highlighted how the department needs to take a look at all of the clinics it funds, specifically the BCMH, immunizations, neonatal and reproductive health clinics.
“It’s significant and probably not something we can afford doing at the same rate going out into the future,” Bresson said. “We need to take a look at how things are structured and what we want to do with that moving forward.”
Orcena explained the clinics are funded by discretionary funds. He said the department needs to determine which ones can “operate at efficiency levels that mimic the private sector,” or “be left with really tough decisions” on what programs the UCHD wants to offer.
He said it’s normal for clinics to run at a deficit, but the UCHD wants to make them self-sustainable, and less dependable on levy dollars.
“The levy will always have to backfill some amount but we want to keep that as low as possible for efficiency-sake,” Orcena said. “It depends on the clinic.
Board member Tiffany Wood said the UCHD should look out for what the community wants with how the department balances its funds for clinics.
Orcena also highlighted the fact the UCHD might need to find some outside funding for its reproductive and sexual health clinic program.
A grant from the Ohio Department of Health used to be enough to cover the Marion clinic, run by the UCHD. However, because of how the grant formula changed, this lowered the amount the Marion clinic would normally receive for the September 2018 to March 2019 grant cycle.
Orcena said the department needs about $10,000 in Marion-supported funds for its clinic.
“To get there, we have to find funding to cover that gap for seven months,” Orcena said. “It’s really important we be able to maintain the clinic on its current schedule, even with reduced hours.”
Bresson also highlighted the department will have a projected expenditure total, or budget, of $6.46 million, compared to 2018’s budget of $4.74 million.
Orcena explained the $6.46 million is what the department has budgeted for “our worst case scenario.” He said the department isn’t expected to spend nearly that much next year, but has money set aside just in case.
“We have to plan literally all possible expenditures, generally speaking, and put them in the budget, upfront, and we never spend all of them,” he said. “Not even close.”
He said the department usually spends about 75 percent of its total appropriations each year. That means the department is likely to spend about $4.84 million in 2019.