a. Allocation to the Broadband Task Force
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To allocate an amount not to exceed $35,000 to the Broadband Task Force to support efforts to secure federal grant dollars to improve rural access to broadband
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The Washtenaw County Broadband Committee’s final report highlighted at least 8,000 households lacked access to broadband in Washtenaw County
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Inequitable access to broadband affects 16 of the county’s mostly rural, western townships
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Lack of access to broadband significantly impacts economic development, property values, personal prosperity, education, health & safety, and overall quality of life
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Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners resolution (19-074) created the Broadband Task Force to continue the work of developing solutions to reducing broadband inequality in Washtenaw County
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The proposed allocation is intended to support the Task Force’s efforts to conducts surveys and analyze the collected data
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This will ensure that Washtenaw County is prepared to submit an application for grant funding at a later date
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The funds would come from the $32,900 remaining in the Board of Commissioners’ 2019 Undesignated Allocation and personnel savings in the Administrator’s budget due to vacant positions
RECOMMENDATION: Approval at Board
b. County Administrator’s recommendation for balancing the 2020 Washtenaw County Community Mental Health (WCCMH) Budget
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Approving the County Administrator’s recommendation for balancing the CMH FY2020 Budget
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Authorizing the County Administrator to implement the necessary actions outlined in the recommendation
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On October 8, 2018, WCCMH Board Chair, John Martin, submitted a correspondence to the Board of Commissioners outlining financial challenges facing WCCMH and by extension Washtenaw County
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Through resolution #19-033, the Board of Commissioners established the CMH Funding Task Force with members representing the BOC, WCCMH Board, Organized Labor Leadership, CMH Administration, and County Administration
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The taskforce met bimonthly to assess, discuss, and develop options to address CMH’s financial challenges
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The County Administrator’s recommendation incorporates the deficit elimination plan options that presented by CMH and the County Administrator and discussed with taskforce members
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The plan seeks to preserve—to the greatest extent possible—the behavioral health services provided by County staff to our most vulnerable population while valuing all services provided by the County to the community
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In addition to the CMH operational deficit elimination options, the plan:
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Seeks to align service delivery costs with available state funding
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Provides GF support options (one-time funding redirections) to allow time for the operational options to be fully implemented
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The impact on budget would be for the recommended options and associated actions to align mental health expenditure with available state funding with the goal that CMH will finish their FY 2020 with expenditures of no more than known available funding
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Consolidation of operations to one less building—while reducing CMH’s indirect cost—would have a neutral impact on the GF as departments currently in leased space would be moved back into county owned buildings
RECOMMENDATION: Approval at Board
c. Authorizing the issuance of an RFP for a Healthcare Consultant
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Authorize the issuance of a Request For Proposal to identify a third party contractor to review Washtenaw County Community Mental Health program utilization authorizations and operations with the objective to obtain recommendations to ensure alignment of program service delivery with the State Mental Health Code and state funding
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An independent data analysis of CMH revenues and expenditures by Rehmann Robson highlighted areas where WCCMH operations were outside the state-wide or region average costs for specific service codes
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The report recommended evaluation of the following:
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Utilization of Services by CMH Population
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Productivity of Internal Staff
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Compensation of Internal Staff
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Productivity of External Providers
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The balance between available State funding and the level of authorized service delivery is a challenge when faced with the rising cost of service provision and a growing eligible population due to changing health policy
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Achieving this balance for Washtenaw County Community Mental Health, in alignment with the mental health code and State Medicaid Funding, requires an unbiased, third party evaluation of costs and service levels across all CMH programs and populations
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Implementation of recommendations would focus on continuing the delivery of high quality care that benefits consumers while being cost effective and within available state funding.
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While there are no direct impacts to human resources with the issuance of a contract, the findings and recommendations may have HR implications
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The costs for this contract will be an expense paid for by the general fund
RECOMMENDATION: Approval at Board
d. 2019-2022 General Fund & Non General Fund Budget Adjustment
RECOMMENDATION: Approval at Board