Arapahoe County Board of Health approves environmental health fee changes amid FY27 funding pressure

Arapahoe County’s Board of Health on June 17 unanimously approved environmental health fee changes, a step staff said follows a cost-of-service review and community input process. The board’s minute summary says members approved the increase as presented by staff.

Staff told the board the environmental health fees had not been updated since 2019, that the changes are intended to improve cost recovery for operations, and that the increases will be phased in over three years.

The vote came during a broader June 17 budget study session in which staff warned the board that the public health department is tracking on budget midyear but faces continued uncertainty from state and federal funding. Staff cited delayed federal notices of award, flat or reduced state grants, and possible federal rule changes affecting allowable expenses and state acceptance of funds.

In that same discussion, staff said the department is projecting roughly a $300,000 drop in grant revenue. They said fee increases and county support could offset part of that decline, but rising expenses mean the draft FY27 budget may still require drawing up to about $477,000 from the public health fund balance, depending on final approval and vacancy savings.

Staff also outlined seven priority funding requests during the session: stabilizing WIC leadership positions, expanding the Family Connects home-visiting pilot, maintaining immunization and sexual-health clinic operations, adding an environmental health land-use and built-environment position, stabilizing the harm reduction program, creating an injury and violence prevention specialist position, and adding a rural outreach specialist.

Earlier board materials suggest some of those service pressures were already visible. In the board’s May 20 agenda packet, Public Health Director Jennifer Ludwig said Family Connects had logged its 100th home visit, served 90 families in six languages, and found that 97% of participating families had at least one immediate postpartum need while 71% had at least one urgent or significant need.

That May report also said referrals were increasing and the program hoped to add another nurse home visitor if additional funding could be secured. The June 17 budget session shows that expansion request is now part of a wider competition for limited public health dollars, even as the board moves ahead with fee changes intended to recover more of the department’s operating costs.