Ottawa County Health Dept. fears major budget cut
The Ottawa County Health Department could be facing severe budget limitations that would seriously impact its ability to continue operations as normal. The department was asked to present a financial outline of spending limited to $2.5 million in general fund dollars. That amount is far below the health department’s average operating budget, nearly cutting it in half.
Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley says a budget cut of this size would put every public health program at risk and fears for the future of the health department.
“It is ridiculous to expect that services in 2024 could be completed with a budget below 2009 funding levels,” Hambley wrote in a post to Facebook.
According to WWMT, the health department had requested a budget of $6.6 million. To operate within the new budget limitations, the health department predicted they would run out of funding and have to close their doors by the end of October- operating only through minimum essential services.
These kinds of loss in budget cuts would be detrimental for both employees of the department and the greater Grand Rapids community. Community-based services, specifically those that are free for the community and aim to support low-income individuals would need to be adjusted to sustain any sort of lifetime under the new budget.
To make up for cash, fees for things like food programs and waste or drinking water programs would need to be tripled, WWMT reports.
The financial needs of the Ottawa Health Department is another conflict adding to an already ongoing lawsuit between Hambley and several Ottawa Impact county commissioners after the commissioners attempted to remove Hambley from her position as Health Department Officer earlier in the year.
GV Student Senate is “under construction”
GVSU Student Senate has posted to their Instagram account to let the public know the organization will be making some changes. As outlined in their Instagram post, the student senate is looking to do some “internal restructuring.”
The council expressed wanting to focus more on accountability moving forward but did not outline the specific changes necessary to achieve that. The senate also mentioned adding an external component to the team and suggested bringing in an outside-of-university consultant for the changes they hope to accomplish in the remodel of the organization.
Besides accountability, the student-legislative organization wants to entirely rebrand, from designing new logos and merchandise to revitalizing the role the group plays in campus affairs. Major focuses pull towards student voices and campus outreach and ensuring adequate representation within student government.
