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CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Legislature’s 2021 General Session, which Governor Mark Gordon described as “discombobulated” due to disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in a supplemental budget bill that includes $430 million in cuts and eliminates 324 state positions. 

While the legislature was able to restore what Gordon described a “modest amount of funding to several Wyoming Department of Health programs for seniors, the disabled, low-income residents and those requiring mental health services” from what was initially proposed leading into the session, the Wyoming Department of Health’s budget was still slashed by about $118.5 million.

The Casper-Natrona County Health Department (CNCHD) is one of the only health departments in the state which is an independent agency from the state health department, but Executive Director Anna Kinder told the Casper City Council on Tuesday, April 27 that some of the services the CNCHD provides are mandated by the state.

She told the council that programs like CNCHD’s Maternal and Child Health rely on some state funding but that the health department is facing “significant cuts from the state.”

The CNCHD receives funding from a variety of sources, including both the City of Casper and Natrona County. Kinder told the council that the department was asking for $650,000 from the City of Casper for the up-coming fiscal year.

City Manager Carter Napier said the city typically provides about $540,000 a year to the health department, though the health department agreed to take less from the city during the current fiscal year (about $513,000) since the city was anticipating a tough year in terms of revenues, which didn’t pan out as negatively as the city had initially projected.

Kinder told the council that the none of the additional $110,000 the health department was requesting from the city beyond what is typically provided would go toward COVID-19 related services the health department provides.

She said the health department is relying on federal and state funding for COVID-19 related services such as testing and offering vaccines, though funding for testing and contact tracing is only certain through June 30 and funding for vaccines is only certain through Dec. 30.

Kinder said the reason for the request for additional funding from the city was to make up for cuts to some of their regular services from the state and to account for growing demand for some of those services.

The following table shows the health department’s requests for the fical year 2022 from Natrona Coutny and from the City of Casper (note that the table says FY 2019, but it is for FY 2022):

Napier told the council that meeting the request to provide $650,000 to the health department would be a “big lift” for the city.

“Candidly, $650,000 is a tough one,” he said.

Napier said that he thought the council should “really consider….the tolerance that you should have with respect to the state passing unfunded mandates onto local governments.”

He added that the Wyoming Legislature has also provided very little flexibility in state law for the city to raise its own revenues.

With these things in mind, he cautioned the council from rushing in to foot a bill that the state has paid in the past and assured the council that if they choose to shoulder those costs, “we will own those costs forever.”

While Council member Kyle Gamroth expressed that he thinks the work the health department does is very important, he said he was initially leaning toward holding the line to make it clear that the Wyoming Legislature is responsible for cuts to health services.

Should the council continue to fund the health department at $540,000 for the fiscal year, Gamroth said that would mean the city hadn’t made any cuts to funding the health department: “Any reductions you see, that is on the state legislature.”

Council member Amber Pollock says she spends a lot of her time thinking about the state’s revenue picture and the need to find new sources of funding: “I wake up in the morning thinking about that. I go to bed thinking about that.”

Pollock said she agrees that it is an unfair position the state has put municipalities in and that impacts to the CNCHD from state funding cuts were just the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of how municipalities will discover they have been hurt by state cuts and policies.

On the other hand, she expressed caution about using the CNCHD as a way to try to “teach the state a lesson at the expense of our citizens.”

“There is a real human impact to those types of decisions as well,” Pollock said.

Council member Khrystyn Lutz said that services like maternal-child health are crucial: “Having a baby is really hard and that is for somebody with the resources [to help them]…that is not something to joke about.”

Lutz noted that the council had also indicated on Tuesday that they would like to meet a request from Visit Casper to provide $50,000 in CARES Act funds toward a campaign to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Casper Events Center.

“If we can give $50,000 to the Events Center to put on parties…I don’t really think that is a big ask,” she said of the health department’s request for additional funding.

Some council members said they would like to see more data regarding the exact amount of cuts the CNCHD is seeing from state funding and would like historical data about all their funding sources.

While Kinder said that she will provide such information to council at their next work session, she said that their overall funding from all sources was around $4.2 million, not counting COVID-19 specific funding sources, which pushed the total closer to $6.2 million.

Council member Bruce Knell said he’d like to get more input from the public before making a decision about increasing the health department’s budget.

Vice Mayor Ray Pacheco asked why council members didn’t insist on more public input before pushing for the proposed $40 million new police headquarters, an initiative Knell has expressed strong support for.

Pacheco said the fact that council had not insisted on public comment on the police headquarters in recent talks, the idea that council should insist on seeking public comment on giving the health department an additional $137,000 beyond the current fiscal year funding level “doesn’t fly with me.” (The city did share results of a survey in early 2020 which found that about 61% of voters in Natrona County would support using sixth cent funds for a new police headquarters).

Pacheco argued that services provided through the health department are essential “like police, like the fire department.”

On the other hand, he agreed that seeing more numbers would be helpful before the council makes a final decision.

Mayor Steve Freel said he would also like to see more historical data from the city in terms of their contributions to the health department in the past: “I would like to know have we ever given more than $540,000 and what was the reason for it.”

Council member Steve Cathey said those numbers were very important to him feeling able to make an informed decision. Pollock asked Kinder if she could be sure that when she presents the council with that information at the next work session, she make sure to show specifically “what is the gap due to state funding.”

Knell said he also wanted some information about how many people in Casper are served through the health department’s programs.

Cathey asked whether other municipalities such as the City of Mills, the Town of Bar Nunn, the Town of Evansville and the Town of Midwest are asked to contribute to the health department since their residents can also receive services via the CNCHD.

Kinder said that while the department should approach those municipalities to help provide funding, they haven’t done so.

Gamroth said he thinks it is hard to see exactly what the funding situation is across the city and with streams of money flowing in or being relied on from other sources such as the state and federal government.

“I don’t have a full understanding of what the iceberg is yet,” he said. Gamroth said he thought it might be better to talk about the health department request along with all other areas the city will budget for the up-coming fiscal year.

Both Pollock and Gamroth cautioned the council about making cuts in the short term that could wind up leading to ballooning expenses in other areas down the road.

“What are the negative impacts down the road [from short-term cuts]? Pollock asked, adding that she thinks it would not be fair “to pull back today at the expense of people in our community in the future.”

Specifically in regard to health services, Pollock said that some of the health department programs are preventative in nature and aim to keep people healthy. Success in the area of health may save against greater expenses in the future.

Kinder told the council she would be happy to provide them with further depth at their next work session. She said that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the health department operated relatively quietly in terms of their interactions with the city and county, but that she thinks it is a good thing they are having to form closer relationships.

Further details regarding the CNCHD’s request are available in the city council’s work packet.

The discussion begins around the 2:15:00 mark in the stream of the council’s work session:

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