“Many of the cost savings that ... we had discussed during the board meeting in December of 2022 were implemented, and we did realize some cost savings over the calendar year,” Wentzel said.
While layoffs are not being anticipated for 2024, the department has already decreased its staff from earlier this year. In March, Public Health said it needed to get down to approximately 251 employees, which was about 21 positions from where the department was then. Prior to the COVID pandemic, the department had approximately 287 employees at the end of 2019, plus some temporary employees due to the pandemic.
Currently, the department has 253 employees as it heads into the new year. Some positions were eliminated from the organization chart, Wentzel said, due to attrition or realignment of job responsibilities.
Wentzel said she is confident the department is at a better place than what was projected.
“We are moving more toward a balanced budget,” Wentzel said.
Public Health’s goal is to have a balanced budget by 2025.
In March, projected revenues for 2024 totaled around $37.5 million, with a loss of $788,971 from 2023. Expenses were projected at $40.2 million, a reduction of $2.7 million from 2023.
Now, the department is projected a revenue of approximately $47.3 million and expenses estimated at approximately $48.7 million, according to Public Health.
“We took a hard look our fees, both that we charge in our facilities and that we contract for services, and we adjusted those,” Wentzel said. “Some of our fees went up and some stayed static or went down based on our allowable costs and expenses and what we can charge by law.”
Public Health also found savings through moving some of its employees to remote work, reducing the amount of office space needed. The Children with Special Healthcare Needs program was able to move out of the Job Center, and it relocated back into Public Health’s main location downtown.
“In that instance, we were able to move out of one of our buildings, which was a realized cost savings for us,” Wentzel said.
Public Health is continuing to evaluate its grants.
“We’re trying to move many of our expenses back toward the grant to make the grant fully fund that program,” Wentzel said. “In some cases, we can’t do that because there’s a required match with local dollars, so we do use some levy funding there, but we’re trying to maximize all of our grant dollars as much as possible.”
The department will be recommending to the board of health a budget with a wage scale adjustment and annual merit increases, she said.
The new year will also provide the department with new opportunities, she said, and the department plans to continue to monitor funding sources and its budget.
“Our goal is to be a highly functioning and efficient health department with our programs and services,” Wentzel said. “Some of our programs and services may change as we move fully out of COVID into ‘24.”
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