County human services starting to receive state funds
WAYNESBURG – Much-needed funding is finally trickling into Greene County Human Services Department after Gov. Tom Wolf signed a partial state budget last month, but more problems remain on the horizon.
The department has been starved for cash during the state budget impasse and reduced all non-essential travel and expenses while using some of the county’s Act 13 impact fee money to keep the office running.
“We’re starting to see some money trickle in so we’re starting to proceed like business as usual,” human services Director Karen Bennett said.
The department Wednesday received the first quarter payment of $1.769 million that was supposed to be delivered last July, which will help it to pay back the county after being fronted the money for salaries and program expenses.
The county took a $4 million tax anticipation loan in December because of the budget impasse. About $3 million was used to refund the county’s general funding budget it already loaned to human services to cover costs, and the remaining amount was to be used to keep the department functioning during the impasse.
“That loan has been taken out and now we’re trying to figure out how to pull all of these numbers together,” Bennett said. “We owe the county back and have to figure out how we’re going to pay them back as the money flows in.”
But Bennett said they are now concerned about a “rebalancing” of state money directed earmarked for Children and Youth Services for the fourth quarter in April that won’t be delivered until months later. That situation will put the department in another quandary until July when the funding is finally delivered. Bennett said she is hoping state lawmakers can fix the problem before it becomes a reality.
“Instead of paying (the funding) out front when we need it in the beginning of the quarter, it will be paid out on the back end,” she said. “That puts us in a bind.”
She said the way the state budget was constructed and then partially vetoed by Wolf Dec. 29 is still causing a strain for all human services departments.
“It’s an issue for everyone across thee state that does children and youth work,” Bennett said. “There wasn’t enough time as this budget got thrown together. It just so happens in the budget items that this rebalancing is included.”
Although the recent allocation of first quarter funding is good news for the department, she has not lifted non-essential travel and expenses until they see more money flowing in. She said an annual conference in Clarion that attracts human service directors from across Western Pennsylvania will be conducted through a teleconference instead so as to save money.
“We’ll have to continue to use the (county’s) loan because they’re still behind,” Bennett said. “We don’t know when the (state’s) check is in the mail.”
Meanwhile, Bennett is bracing for another protracted fight when the governor introduces his next budget in February.
“And we start it all over again,” she said.
The department runs on a fiscal year from July to June. The current 2015-16 budget for human services was estimated to total $8.68 million.