HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-18-2025; 8-l - Approval of Letter to the County's US Congressional Delegation 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 18, 2025
Action Agenda
Item No. 8-1
SUBJECT: Approval of Letter to the County's US Congressional Delegation
DEPARTMENT: Board of County
Commissioners
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Draft Letter Commissioner Marilyn Carter, 919-245-
2130
Commissioner Jean Hamilton, 919-245-
2130
PURPOSE: To approve a letter to the County's US Congressional Delegation regarding federal
funding and the impact on local services.
BACKGROUND: At its March 11, 2025, work session, the Board of County Commissioners
discussed sending a letter to the County's US Congressional Delegation regarding the impact of
changes to federal funding for County services. The Board reviewed a draft letter at the work
session and suggested edits, with the intent to approve the letter at the March 18, 2025, Business
meeting.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with this item.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLAN: There are no Orange County Strategic Plan Goals
applicable to this item.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the letter and
direct the Clerk to the Board to send the letter to members of the County's US Congressional
Delegation.
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ORANGE COUNTY
Board of County P.O. BOX 8181
Commissioners HILLSBOROUGH, NC 27278
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TO: Senator Thom Tillis
Senator Ted Budd
Representative Valerie Foushee
FROM: Orange County NC Board of Commissioners
DATE: March 18, 2025
RE: Concerns about Federal budget impacts
Summary
On March 1 —4, 2025, the National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference was
held in Washington, DC. At this conference, NACo, as well as the NC Association of County
Commissioners (NCACC), identified changes that will have major impact on county government
services to our communities if enacted as part of the federal budget process.
These changes included:
1. Medicaid cuts
2. Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Protective Services
3. Elimination/Cuts to FEMA
4. Removal of the Federal tax exemption on interest received on municipal bond holdings
There was strong bipartisan concern expressed about cuts in these areas and their impact. We
share this concern and oppose these changes. We also support the addition of NACo/NCACC
to the FEMA Reform Council.
Below, we share specifics on how these programs support our county's residents, and we are
writing to urge you to avoid these impacts to our counties across North Carolina.
Potential Impacts
1. Medicaid cuts:
As of December 1, 2023, Medicaid was expanded in North Carolina and now also covers
people aged 19 to 64 with incomes up to 138% of the Federal poverty level (about
$20,000/yr for an individual and $34,000/yr for a family of three).
North Carolina statute requires that any cuts that would reduce the Federal Match below
90% will result in termination of expanded Medicaid benefits.
In our county,
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o More than 4,600 residents have been enrolled in the expanded Medicaid
program since 12/01/2023. (1)
o Over 21,000 residents were enrolled in "Traditional" Medicaid coverage in 2024.
(1)
o Approximately 3,900 individuals currently receiving Medicaid (19%) are older
adults or adults with disabilities.
o For reference, statewide, almost 50% of total Medicaid expenditures are for
services geared toward this population and include nursing facilities, personal
care services, home health services, CAP/services for disabled adults, and
hospice. (2)
References:
1. NC DHHS Enrollment Dashboard
2. NC DHHS Annual Reports and Tables
2. Cuts to SNAP, TANF and Child Protective Services:
SNAP
0 5.9% of our residents received benefits from 2017-2021 vs. 13.7% NC-wide
(1)
o Program served 10,016 people and 5,368 households in December 2024 (2)
o Direct benefits to recipients just under$22M in 2024; with $2.2M Federal
costs for program administration in 2024 (3)
TANF
o $1.OM in Federal dollars supports child welfare staff, employment services
staff and employment programs
Child Protective Services
o Provided assessments for over 570 households for abuse or neglect,
placement and support services to 80 children in DSS custody and protective
services to more than 70 families receiving monthly in-home social work
services (2024 budget data; $2.5M in Federal dollars for staff and program
payments).
References:
1. Orange County 2023 Community Health Assessment
2. NC DHHS FNS Caseload Statistics Reports
3. Orange County BOCC meeting 17-Jan 2025; Attachments p. 79
The stories of individuals illustrate how these supports enable breadwinners to continue
working and reinforce stability for families in our community:
`Y walked in the front door of[Orange County]Social Services... went through the
application processes and within a couple of weeks I received a phone call from
Employment Services asking if 1 wanted to participate in the Employment and
Training (Now More than a Job NC) program. 1 was nervous but excited. 1 started
taking classes offered to me by the program. The opportunity arose to work in a
temporary position. I jumped at it!"— Former Client A.S.
"Food Stamps[Food and Nutrition Services]were very beneficial and helped with us
saving money and being able to put our money towards things we very much needed
outside of food (housing, car, etc.)"— Client D.S.
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3. Elimination/Cuts to FEMA
Counties agreed that reform is needed and that adding NACo to the new FEMA
Review Council is crucial for the effectiveness of the reform effort.
Counties also agreed that eliminating or reducing FEMA would cause irreparable
harm at the local level.
Many of the emergency capabilities built in Orange County since 9/11 have been
federally funded or supported:
o The annual Emergency Management Grant Program (EMPG):
Supports upfits to the Emergency Operations Center, training/exercises,
and creation of the Countywide Emergency Operations Plan.
o The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant:
Supported acquisition of the County's new mobile command post.
o FEMA's Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP):
Funds the State's Domestic Preparedness Regions and has supported
the acquisition of generators, prime movers (tow vehicles), hazmat
decontamination capabilities, explosive ordinance disposal capabilities,
and interoperable communications.
o The Assistance to Firefighters Grant program:
Funded the purchase of electric stretchers. These devices have improved
safety for patients and cut our worker's compensation injuries by nearly
50%.
o The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP):
Enabled acquisition/elevation of flood-prone properties locally.
Regarding disaster recovery:
o The State's capability to support counties is largely enabled by administrative
funding associated with Major Disaster Declarations.
North Carolina has not historically funded the positions necessary to
execute recovery.
o Diminishing Federal or State ability to administer these programs would cause
recovery to drag out even further.
o The budgets of counties will suffer new strains to finance disaster
response.
4. Removal of Federal tax exemption on interest received on municipal bond
holdings
NACo shared that the impact of such a change would equate to a 2.1 percentage
point increase in bond interest rates. Orange County has a AAA credit rating and
assuming a 2-percentage point impact:
o For Orange County's existing bond portfolio, this would introduce an additional
cost of$78.2 million over the life of the bonds.
o For our new school bond program, this would add $50 million in cost over the life
of the bonds.
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Our Board of Commissioners joins with counties across North Carolina and with NACo in
supporting the addition of NACo members to the FEMA Reform Council. We also join with them
in expressing opposition to cutting these crucial programs and to removing the federal tax
exemption on municipal bond interest.
The Orange County NC Board of Commissioners
CC: Kevin Leonard, Executive Director,
NC Association of County Commissioners