Hennepin County Battens Down Hatches as Shutdown Nears

As the deadline looms for a July 1 state government shutdown, Hennepin County’s major departments briefed its Board of Commissioners on Thursday morning, June 23, to discuss worst-case scenarios.

No motions were made, no votes were taken and no testimony was given. With a potential shutdown only eight days away, the commission met to discuss possibilities and present a realistic outlook for how communities within Hennepin County could be impacted.  

“We’re not interested in a ‘fund everything while we figure it out’ model,” County Commission Chair Mike Opat said at the outset of the meeting. “We’re not sitting on a lot of cash here at the county and we need to figure out how best to use it.”

Thousands Would Lose Access to Human Services
The Human Services and Public Health Department found 17 state-funded programs that it deemed “non-core” and expects to be shut down as of July 1. The programs (and the number of Hennepin County residents affected) include:

• Assertive Community Treatment (75 residents)
• Behavioral Health & Residential Housing (300+ residents)
• Chemical Dependency Treatment (800+ residents)
• Child Care Assistance (6300+ families; HC processes 500 new applications per month)
• Child Care Direct Payments (6300+ families)
• Family Assessment Grant (850-900 families per year)
• Family Group Decision-making (300 families per year)
• Family Homeless & Prevention Assistance (200 families)
• Fraud Prevention (1525 fraud cases in 2010; $3.4 million in recoveries)
• Group Resident Housing (number not provided)
• Intensive Residential Treatment Services (91 beds)
• Long-term Care Consultation (600-700 screenings per month)
• MFIP Employment & DWP (number not provided)
• Metro Long-term Homeless Service Fund (331 metro-wide households)
• MHFA Rent Subsidy (170 households)
• Non-emergency case management (15,000 residents)
• Veterans outreach (number not provided)

Third District Commissioner Gail Dorfman, who represents St. Louis Park and western Minneapolis, said freezes to long-term housing programs will hurt many families in North Minneapolis who were displaced by the recent tornado.

Summer Youth and Adult Work Programs Would Close
The Hennepin County Housing, Community Works and Transit (HCWT) department identified three areas on which the impact of the government shutdown would be significant: Workforce Investment Housing and Sentencing-to-Service (STS) Homes.

• Workforce Investment (No state or federal funds can be guaranteed after June 30)
• Housing (Federal funding will not be affected; State funding will be interrupted after June 30)
• STS Homes (All current projects interrupted; No additional work crews will be employed after June 30)

Opat said it was “ironic that in a time of high unemployment that workforce centers would be closed.”

Election Complications Expected
Hennepin County’s Taxpayer Services department is currently awaiting a decision to determine whether its Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS) database will be deemed essential. If not, primary elections scheduled for Aug. 9 in Bloomington and St. Louis Park will be interrupted. The extent of the interruption is currently unknown.

If the potential government shutdown continues to Nov. 8, elections in seven cities and 16 school districts within Hennepin County—as well as Senate special elections in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center—will also be interrupted.

Commissioner Peter McLaughlin questioned why voting wasn't considered an essential service by the county attorneys.

“This is a bigger threat to the integrity of the election system than the argument that’s been made for photo ID,” said McLaughlin, referring to a Republican bill to require ID for voters.

Hennepin County Would Lose $20 Million in Revenue
The departments of Natural Resources, Vehicle Safety and Health are facing a worst-case scenario of losing $456,500 per month for the duration of the potential government shutdown.

In the event the three departments are deemed non-essential, all equipment and staff related to them would be unavailable. Residents would be unable to apply for or receive passports and any advertising on department plasma screens would cease after June 30.

According to Hennepin County’s public works department, three active construction projects would be significantly impacted by a government shutdown. The projects, including estimates for loss of revenue for 30 days, are as follows:

• Excelsior Blvd from Louisiana Ave to Dakota Ave (St. Louis Park): $71,750
• Bottinueau Blvd from Hwy 100 to Bass Lake Rd (Crystal): $328,300
• Lowry Ave Bridge, phase I & II (Minneapolis): $437,750

The 30-day loss of revenue ($837,800) for the projects is estimated to grow to $1.4 million if the government shutdown lasts 60 days, $2.2 million if it lasts 90 days and $3.1 million if it lasts 120 days.

Director of Hennepin County Labor Relations Bill Peters told the commission a state government shutdown would cost the county approximately $117 million per month. Peters’ estimated numbers for July 2011 are as follows:

• Budget & Finance ($12.4 million)
• Community Corrections & Rehabilitation ($1.5 million)
• District Courts ($900,000)
• Housing Community Works Transit ($1.4 million)
• Human Services ($28.75 million)
• HCMC ($38 million)
• Metropolitan Health Plan ($27 million)
• Public Defender ($7.3 million)

If it shuts down, the state government would retroactively reimburse Hennepin County for all expenditures except for those services already paid for the month of July. At the moment, Peters said there is at least $20 million that Hennepin County would not recover. He also warned that the number could increase depending on the outcome of the impending court decision.