GPH Health Admin. Talks Grant Cuts, Possible Levy

April 24, 2025 by Allison Wilson

With the Ohio legislature cutting or reassessing items in the state operating budget, House Bill 96, its impact on Geauga Public Health’s funding is unclear, said Geauga Health Administrator Adam Litke April 16.

“We don’t know where the funding is going to go at this point,” he said during the Geauga County Board of Health meeting. “There’s kind of stuff going all over the place.”

Ohio ranks very low in the country for federal funding to health departments, which now may be a silver lining, Litke noted.

“We’re so low in federal funding that the federal cuts have — they have an impact, but it’s nowhere near some of the states that may be one or two on the list,” he said.

The meeting’s draft agenda outlined several changes.

An additional tax on marijuana planned to fund a public health lab was removed, as was an increase of $22.5 million in fiscal year 2027 for Help Me Grow, a support program for pregnant women and caregivers.

An increase of $56 million in FY 2025 and $63 million in FY 2026 and 2027 for the program were retained, according to GPH. Amended language in the Ohio Revised Code providing funding to health districts to improve oversight of solid waste and infectious waste was also removed.

Additional changes being proposed include cuts to the tobacco use prevention, cessation and enforcement fund by $4 million each fiscal year, according to GPH.

The bill has also removed restrictions on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, cut the creation of a vape retailer registry and took out a proposed tax increase on cigarettes and other tobacco products, according to GPH. It also eliminated the Ohio Department of Health’s Lead Safe Home Program

Litke raised a related concern.

“Our 20-some-year-old levy, it was not sustaining with the current funding we had,” he said. “It is not sustaining if we take even more cuts.”

The department is already operating at bare bones, except for grant funding, Litke said.

“Those grants often cover part of a supervisor, part of a nurse, part of a clerical, part of a xyz. If you cut out that, that funding would have to come from somewhere else,” he said.

There are only five or six employees outside of their environmental health staff, he said.

As the cost of living increases, the department cannot attract staff for $26 per hour, Litke later noted.

“Currently, the health department only has three grants left, after the COVID ones ended and a vaccination one became too burdensome to maintain. They are used for safe driving, emergency preparedness and employee retention,” Litke said April 18.

One was reduced at the federal level with the state making up the difference this year, he added.

“(There is) no knowledge of what happens with next year’s grant. The retention grant was expected to be a recurring grant, but that is not expected at this time,” he said.

At the March 26 GPH meeting, Litke noted he and Health Commissioner Ron Graham are watching where federal funds are going.

“There is one grant we are monitoring very closely, that’s our Workforce Development Grant, it’s about $100,000 a year that goes just towards funding the staff,” he said.

COVID-19 relief dollars were repurposed, often without the grant’s name being changed, Litke said, adding COVID-related grants were cut as of March 24, 2025.

“Those were being used for other things, so now that funding is gone,” he said.

They aren’t sure if the Workforce Development Grant had COVID in the name, but are keeping an eye on it, Litke said.

The Public Health Emergency Preparedness Grant contributes toward the health commissioner and environmental health director, Litke said at the April meeting, adding the Workforce Development Grant also pays for environmental health positions.

“Those are all things that are likely, it sounds like, moving away,” he said. “If they are, we have to have other funding sources now for those things because there’s still requirements.”

The 20-year-old levy was also passed before the department had to consider repaying $1 million in House Bill 110 money, grant cuts and significant inflation, he said.

“What is the plan then for us moving forward and finding funding?” board member Lynn Roman asked. “What happens if there is no money and the services cannot be supported?”

In that situation, Litke and Environmental Health Director Dan Lark would review what services need the most support and their cash carryover, Litke said.

“The cash carryover — we don’t have a lot of money in there,” Litke said. “That money pays for bills we get reimbursed for after the fact. Most grants are after the fact. You do all the work, you pay all the staff, then you get money.”

The department is at bare minimum, Litke said, adding they rely on University Hospitals, other clinics and Medical Reserve Corps volunteers for help.

“I have DOGE-ed everything I can DOGE and there’s nothing left to DOGE,” he said, referencing the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency.

There have been conversations with municipalities, Litke said, adding while they are supportive of a new levy, their money is also tight.

“We are not going to gain anything by shocking people and adding more stress because we are all exposed to the same stresses because we are the public, as well,” Jones said. “I think that we have (to have) continuous conversations, we prepare, we collaborate.”