Despite tax increase, Macon-Bibb County health providers still face budget cuts

The Macon-Bibb County Commission will vote Tuesday on a new budget that would cut funding to both the Macon-Bibb County Health Department and River Edge Behavioral Health.

Commissioners voted last week to raise the property tax rate to 20.652 mills, or 3 mills higher than last year. But the increase wasn’t enough to fully fund the community’s two public health care providers.

“I’m a little relieved now that we have put back in place the funding for those entities,” Commissioner Elaine Lucas said. “But I think all during the year, we’re going to have to look and see where these agencies end up with shortfalls, and we’re going to have to look to restoring, I think, some of that funding.”

The amended budget, proposed by Commissioner Virgil Watkins, slashes an average of 14 percent of funding to over a dozen agencies. In the amended budget, the health department will receive $580,000, 15 percent less than the previous year, and River Edge Behavioral Health, a mental health provider, will receive $350,000, which is 13 percent less than its allotment in fiscal 2018.

“We will continue our mission of providing mental health and substance use disorder treatments and supports as well as supports for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to the fullest extent of available resources,” River Edge CEO Shannon T. Gordon wrote in an emailed statement to The Telegraph.

Anita Barkin, deputy district health director for North Central Health District, said budget cuts would present challenges, but she appreciated the commissioners’ consideration to provide support for public health resources.

“A 15 percent reduction will likely result in the continued vacancies of some clinical and health education positions,” she said in a statement. “However, we feel that we will be able to sustain our current level of public health services.”

Because the health department uses its budget allocation from the the county to match state grants, changes in county funding have a ripple effect on the agency’s overall financing plan. Last week, the Board of Health sent a memo alerting county commissioners that a loss of local funding would put the health department at risk of violating its contract with the state and jeopardize more than $1.5 million in grant-in-aid dollars.

In the memo, Chris Tsavatewa, Board of Health vice chair and finance committee chair, outlined resources that might be reduced or eliminated without sufficient funding from the county, including immunizations, dental care, prenatal care, and health inspections of restaurants, hotels and pools.

Tsavatewa wrote that a loss of funding would also result in staffing cuts and decreased health education, as well as reduced access to affordable health care for the uninsured and underinsured.

That worst-case scenario is unlikely to happen now that the county plans to restore most of the health department’s funding.

Before a Monday morning budget meeting, Commissioner Valerie Wynn said she and other commissioners planned to advocate on behalf of the health department, the transit authority and the libraries, which all rely on county funding to match state grants.

While the health department will not receive the total amount that it had hoped for, the amended budget will at least allow the agency to stay afloat.

The funding cuts to River Edge and the health department will still allow both agencies to provide most of their essential services, Lucas said.

“River Edge is a major provider of mental health services for our underserved citizens, and the health department and these other entities — DFACS, all of those — provide a safety net for many of our citizens,” she said.

But Lucas added that taking away the safety net those agencies provide would only lead to additional costs to the county in the future.

“If we don’t fund them adequately, then we lose that safety net, and we’ll start to see increases in what’s needed to provide services in corrections and other areas,” Lucas said. “So, you know, we provide adequate funding now, or we will see the need for more funding in some other areas that we really don’t want to see.”

Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member and reports for The Telegraph with support from the News/CoLab at Arizona State University. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/samantha.max.9 and on Twitter @samanthaellimax. Learn more about Report for America at www.reportforamerica.org.

This story was originally published August 20, 2018 at 4:00 PM.