“As you've heard at our January March updates, there are substantial budget challenges that we are facing in 2026 and into 2027. The goal of these budget update presentation is to provide transparency and information to you and to our residents regarding the tracking and monitoring of the county's financial health throughout this year.”

Explaining the purpose of the budget update.

“We have uh six 9,400.1 FTEEs hired as of May 4th, 2026. And that's about 225 fewer than we had over the prior year.”

Reporting on hired FTE count.

“our spending uh remains under budget uh as we go through 2026.”

Regarding county spending.

“there's about $8 million in reduced revenues to administer the SNAP program compared to uh before uh federal actions were changing last year.”

Detailing federal impacts on SNAP.

“there is an additional $20 million in anticipated uh lost federal revenues as they uh move forward with changes to how they reimburse us based on the SNAP error rate.”

Discussing anticipated cuts to SNAP revenue.

“We are going to continue reviewing all contracts and RFPs and we're also uh have been reviewing all of our capital projects and again CBTF will be starting up next Monday and so they'll be also discussing that process.”

Outlining ongoing budget strategies.

“There are ongoing legislative discussions around the SNAP changes. The Association of Minnesota Counties, all 87 counties are impacted by those changes as well as across the country. You know, all states are impacted by the Medicaid reductions or sorry, the SNAP reductions. And so, we will continue uh to work with them. Um, I don't know that we have a sense that there's a clear solution at this point.”

Responding to questions about state discussions on SNAP.

“the actuals is representing the the actual people on staff uh who are there to do the work. And so we look at these three metrics together kind of like dials in a dashboard. They're all contextual, but the actuals does show you and and if you're interested, we can give you more detail on how many of those FTEES are, you know, regular, how many are, you know, might be on PTO.”

Explaining the 'actuals' column for FTEs.

“the 8 million is what has already been enacted and is flowing through our budget. Now, the additional 20 million, and I should call out these are administrative revenues paid to deliver the services. So, the SNAP benefits are one facet. That's what's flowing through to your residents. The county is the entity that actually does the administrative work to get those benefits to residents and that's the revenue that's being cut to deliver those services.”

Clarifying SNAP revenue vs. administrative cuts.

“I just want to take this moment to thank staff for all the work that they're doing on this. I know it's challenging too to the folks that are underneath you and that you manage. um seeing some of these these cuts and some of the holds that we're doing on hiring and everything and still trying to do all the work that we need to be done.”

Expressing gratitude to staff for their work amidst challenges.

“The other thing is is the transparency that we're giving to the actual residents about why things are where they're at and the budget struggles that we're having as well to that.”

Appreciating the transparency provided to residents.

“For those watching at home, we this is the first time that the county has kind of taken on these regular budget briefings. And so I'm also appreciative to staff and just want to recognize that we are in a moment of compressed economic need for our residents and that our workers are working literally very very hard to attempt to meet this moment.”

Commenting on the new budget briefing format and current economic conditions.

“What I'm trying to get at is um not all FTE hour, especially when you look at overtime, is is equal when it comes to from the lens of the budget. So can you just speak more to the construct of that right column and is there a need to have a a variance for that actuals right I'm I'm I'm just from a from an understanding perspective uh madam chair I would appreciate some insight.”

Questioning the 'actuals' column and its relation to budget and overtime.

“So, Madam Chair, um my followup on this one is just trying to get an understanding of overtime. So overtime is an aspect of feedback that we've we've received. But most importantly in this context, overtime has a multiplier effect from a financial perspective that the FTE hours paid is not necessarily equivalent to the financial compensation paid for that period.”

Inquiring about overtime and its financial implications.

“So, for both this and the anticipated cuts, I would just encourage putting 2026 cuz we're at a time where we should probably be putting the 2028 numbers. My reason for lifting this up is because I think it's technically compounding. So in 2027, we will lose $20 million of SNAP benefit. So that's I'm a resident receiving money and and there are 20 million fewer dollars. But then there's the 8 million of admin, right? That's that that's those are are those is that supposed to be 28 million when we look at 27's budget or is it 20 million when we look at 27's budget? My apologies if I've misunderstood.”

Seeking clarification on the additive nature of SNAP benefit and administrative cuts.

“it would be favorable for us to understand the aggregate impact right so in 27 based off of this it's 20 million of reduced benefit the administrative cost that is listed in current but technically we should also be capturing how much more administrative burden our workforce is having to engage in in order to deliver that same kind of dollar or household of benefit because it's it's it's three things. It's the revenue loss for the benefit, revenue loss for administration, and then additional ad administrative burden on our local government.”

Requesting clarity on aggregate impacts of SNAP changes.

“The other thing is is the transparency that we're giving to the actual residents about why things are where they're at and the budget struggles that we're having as well to that.”

Emphasizing the importance of transparency with residents regarding budget struggles.

“is just to have a much more clear view of that. Couple questions I had was on the when you say it's required the administrative for the SNAP benefits it's required you're we are legally obligated to deliver that service which means we are legally obligated to tax county taxpayers money to pay for something because the federal government or the state I can't I think it's a state how the state delivers it right or um anyway between the two I just want to say that out loud that we're still providing benefits but the burden of the administrative side of that requirement now has become a indirect or direct tax increase. Is that a fair statement or am I thinking that wrong?”

Questioning the financial implication of mandated SNAP administrative services.

“I have a lot of residents asking why are we paying for hospital care for people who don't live in Henipin County. I think we did such a good job of telling people why it's a statewide asset. Now people are like, "Oh, all right, great. Now why is my why am I paying for someone from Noa County to come use our hospital?" And so I think that maybe in the future we're going to have to really delineate what we're paying because in the past we had to kind of pull these different buckets together like it's Henipin Health provides some money in there. We've got this, we've got security. I think we are going to need to have a you know one central place where a resident can say how much am I paying to deliver care for the entire state because it is still even with the changes we are still very much in the mix financially and I think um I have a lot of residents who are like yeah, the state should be paying for it and b I shouldn't be paying for someone else if the other counties aren't willing to raise their taxes to pay for healthcare then why the heck do I have to pay for those counties.”

Addressing resident concerns about paying for non-county residents' hospital care.

“I would like to see a place that would be public available so everybody can say how much is my property taxes going to pay for an asset but it is a statewide asset and so I think people have that right.”

Advocating for public transparency on property tax contributions to statewide assets.

“So we're not the only county uses variances right? I know the answer, but I'm asking it on purpose because I I sometimes I feel made to believe that we're the only people in the planet that use this evil variance thing to track FTEEs.”

Confirming if variance tracking for FTEs is a common practice.

“Could you speak a little bit to the different factors that might drive that in different directions? And I know historically we've I think tried to be fairly conservative uh like or um state the highest number of impact generally is that we can accurately provide uh but can you tell a little bit about how we arrived at this number and what might push it in different different directions?”

Requesting details on factors influencing Medicaid estimates.

“The first question on that is in the the Medicaid estimates that that you provided, really appreciate seeing a number for the first time. Could you speak a little bit to the different factors that might drive that in different directions? And I know historically we've I think tried to be fairly conservative uh like or um state the highest number of impact generally is that we can accurately provide uh but can you tell a little bit about how we arrived at this number and what might push it in different different directions?”

Seeking clarification on Medicaid estimate calculations and potential influences.