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Wednesday, 14 January 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
Salary adjustments and an extra pay period account for most of the small increase in the Auglaize County Health Department’s budget for 2009.
At $2.27 million, the budget is projected to increase approximately 5 percent from 2008, Health Commissioner Charlotte Parsons said.
She said $200,000 left unappropriated in the General Fund could be available for use at the end of the year, but she didn’t think it was necessary to pack it into line items if it wasn’t needed now.
Employees received 3 percent cost of living adjustments and she told board members during Tuesday’s meeting that they had expressed gratitude for the salary increase.
“As we continue to be prudent, hopefully we will continue to be able to do it,” board member Dan Harpster said.
“We have been very careful,” Parsons said. “It’s not fun to pinch the copper off pennies but we have to do it to keep our priorities straight.”
She said in addition to salary increases for the department’s 30 employees, 5 percent was factored in for miscellaneous costs that continue to rise.
A 1-mill property levy, that generated $880,300 for the department last year, helps absorb substational cuts from state grants.
“It gives us the flexibility
and stability that otherwise would mean cutting hours or layoffs,” Parsons said.
She said even as state funding sources have been cut, they continue to see new clients. Family planning and the Woman Infants and Children (WIC) programs have both increased 15 percent during the last year.
“The demand continues to grow,” Parsons said. “In 2008, we saw 300 more people and administered 1,000 more shots. It’s not a huge increase, but we’re tying to manage it with the staff and resources we have.
“We’re very glad we’ve been able to stay stable and hold our own in this economy,” she said. “Fortunately we’ve been able to be real careful with our spending and looking at the long term picture.”
The Board of Health General Fund at $1.42 million is the largest under 2009 appropriations for the department. Salaries account for $650,000 of that, health insurance for $220,000, $120,000 for rent, utilities and telephone service, and $107,000 for supplies.
Other funds include different inspection divisions, grants and other state and federal funding sources.
In its two biggest funds, the department receives nearly $432,000 for assistance in administering Family and Children First funding and $161,000 in WIC funding.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 15 January 2009 )
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