HomeMy WebLinkAboutOTHER-2025-020-Approval of Letter to the County’s US Congressional Delegation ®� °oof ' Cho„,,
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
o 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 ENS 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 :
"I 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 I wanted to participate in the Employment and
Training (Now More than a Job NC) program. I 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 ( BRIG ) 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
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