The complicated part of the Summit County Department of Health budget is that the county fiscal year and the federal grant cycle don’t line up.
The federal grant cycle starts July 1, so the local health department doesn’t have any of that money yet. That means, with cuts looming, roughly 40% of its $10.9 million FY2025 budget isn’t secure.
About $6.8 million from Summit County, service fees and other sources is safe, according to Health Director Phil Bondurant.
Bondurant broke down the most likely scenario for county councilmembers at their June 4 meeting: a roughly 40% cut to public health funding nationwide.
“We're waiting to see what exactly is going to happen from a timeline perspective. I did read over the weekend that President Trump is strongly encouraging Congress to have the bill passed by July 3,” Bondurant said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” June 9. “That would be remarkable. I think it would be out of the ordinary if it met that deadline.”
If the health department loses 40% of its grants come July, it’s facing an $800,000 loss for the rest of this year and an $800,000 loss for the first half of next year.
Bondurant said he’s not privy to any special information and that nothing is for sure.
“All of these things that we're being told are not direct from any reputable source other than our media outlets. So I will be the first to tell you that I don't have the answers for you today,” Bondurant told county councilmembers June 4. “I don't know what this is going to look like. I don't know how it is all going to shake out, but I can tell you I will figure it out.”
Half the health department’s budget covers salaries, and the other half services.
Bondurant and other top county staff have said their goal is to create a “runway” to adjust to lower funding levels. That has included already suspending nonessential spending.
Staffing cuts are on the table, but haven’t happened yet.
Some mental health programming and communications as well as lab and epidemiology capacity could be cut entirely, according to Bondurant’s June 4 presentation. Currently, tobacco-related, health equity and lead exposure services are slated to be reduced.
Local health officials say they’ll continue to provide core services no matter what, but Bondaurant is sure that public health “is going to look different on the back end of this current administration and the current budget.”
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