The Archuleta Board of County Commissioners will meet this afternoon, at 1:30pm, to discuss a few pending items.
One item is a budget amendment that will allow the new Archuleta County Public Health Department to begin hiring staff. The amendment mentions about $363,000 in LATCF money.
No, just kidding. Archuleta County does not currently have a Public Health Department. They can’t have a County Public Health Department because, legally, such of a department must be created by an appointed Board of Health that meets certain criteria… and we don’t yet have a Board of Health that meets that criteria.
On top of that, the bulk of the LATCF money listed in the proposed budget amendment is allotted, not to a “Public Health Department” but to a “Water Quality Division” of the existing Planning Department. Among the proposed allocations, we find three new full-time employees.
You can download the Budget Amendment notes here.
So… who, exactly, is hiring this public health staff? And with what money?
The Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF) is a general revenue enhancement program that provides additional assistance to eligible Tribal governments, eligible revenue sharing counties and eligible revenue sharing consolidated governments that have experienced cuts in other federal funding.
From the U.S. Treasury website:
The American Rescue Plan appropriated $2 billion to Treasury across fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to provide payments to eligible revenue sharing counties and eligible Tribal governments for use on any governmental purpose except for a lobbying activity. Specifically, the American Rescue Plan reserves $250 million to allocate and pay to eligible Tribal governments for each of fiscal years 2022 and 2023, and reserves $750 million to allocate and pay to eligible revenue sharing counties for each of fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
Normally, a county government cannot legally spend money that wasn’t specifically allocated in their annual budget. But when “unexpected revenues” arrive during a budget year, that “new” money can be spent. The County is defining the LATCF money as “unexpected”.
But we have a curious situation here.
Durango-based San Juan Basin Public Health has been overseeing Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems — septic systems, OWTSs — for the past 70 years or so. But that district will be dissolved on January 1, 2024, and the new Archuleta County Public Health Department will take over public health functions, locally.
In Colorado, septic system approvals and inspections come under the purview of the Board of Public Health. We don’t have a Board of Public Health.
But in order to stand up a functional (or even semi-functional) public health department on January 1, we need to have a staff in place… and the staff needs to be certified in various areas of public health… such as, for example, septic system inspections and approvals.
At yesterday’s meeting of the Archuleta County Public Health Transitional Advisory Committee, some of the committee members were surprised that today’s proposed budget amendment indicates four new staff to be added to the existing Community Development Department. Three of the staff would be assigned to “water quality”.
According to what we heard during past Advisory Committee discussions, numerous other Colorado counties assign the management of septic systems to their community development departments.
But how many staff do we really need, to oversee septic systems? The proposed budget amendment lists 3 FTE (full-time equivalent) staff, as seen below…
Here’s Susanne Bryant, speaking at yesterday’s meeting, summarized her research into the wastewater divisions at other Colorado public health departments.
“I know that wastewater is not part of public health, but I would like to go on record, that I feel that 3 FTEs is way more than what they need for our county… when I was checking with other counties that are bigger than us, I saw 1/2 FTE or 1 FTE. I did not see 3 FTEs in any of them…
“I can give you the statistics for Montezuma County, where they hired a 1/2 FTE. Their budget was to do 200 septic inspections. So they are doing 200, with 1/2 FTE…”
Archuleta County does about 300 septic inspections per year, on average, I was told. But today’s Budget Amendment seems to indicate the hiring of 3 FTEs to handle septic systems? Essentially, six times the number of employees as in neighboring Montezuma County? Plus a new “planning manager” (1 FTE) to help oversee them?
What the Advisory Committee didn’t mention, but may have been thinking, is that the cost of running a “Water Quality Division” typically comes out of the pockets of developers and homeowners who are installing the septic systems. Typically, the more staff hired to run the division, the more expensive the OWTS fees will be.
I beg to differ with Ms. Bryant, in one respect. She said, “wastewater is not part of public health”. Perhaps she is being overly generous.
While many county Boards of Health do indeed outsource septic system approvals to other agencies, the authority remains with the County Board of Health, not with the BOCC.
From Colorado Revised Statutes 25-10-103:
(10) “Local board of health” means any local, county, or district board of health.
(11) “Local public health agency” means any county, district, or municipal public health agency and may include a county, district, or municipal board of health or local agency delegated by a county, district, or municipal board of health to oversee OWTS permitting and inspection or an OWTS program.
I’m not a county attorney, but when I read, “may include a county, district, or municipal board of health or local agency delegated by a county, district, or municipal board of health to oversee OWTS permitting and inspection or an OWTS program…” I understand it to mean that the OWTS agency must be delegated by the County Board of Health.
But Archuleta County has not yet appointed a County Board of Health. They could have one tomorrow, if they wanted…
According to the budget amendment cited above, the BOCC is considering a process that would delegate OWTS permitting to the County’s Planning Department. But it seems the BOCC doesn’t have the authority to do that. A Board of Health has that authority.
This seems to be a bit of a mess.