CLARION – Children and Youth Services payments to Clarion County are being withheld by the state again, and it could get worse.
“In the state’s final quarter, the commonwealth only gives us one half of their fourth quarter,” Clarion County budget director Sandy Ion said at Tuesday’s county commissioners meeting. “That situation has been going on for years.”
She noted that the state operates on a fiscal calendar that ends in June. The county operates on a calendar year that runs from January through December.
“If the state doesn’t pass the budget it could be even longer before they pay the county,” county commissioner Ed Heasley said at the meeting.
By law, the state must pass a budget by the end of June, but that doesn’t always happen.
The state reimburses the county for CYS expenditures only after the county submits a report that is approved by the state. If that approval is not granted, the county must continue to fund CYS.
The state currently owes the county about $180,000 in CYS reimbursements.
“There are also special grants that are affected,” said Ion. “They only give you one quarter of that in their fourth quarter. That’s about $150,000.”
“We are also losing interest on that money,” commissioner Ted Tharan said.
“That’s a chunk of money,” county treasurer Tom McConnell added. “We are getting two percent on our investment.”
Last year, the county loaned the CYS fund more than $1 million until the county was reimbursed.
Ion said that while many counties carry CYS funds in the general budget, Clarion County maintains a separate line item “so it is really blatant for us.”
“That was when we discovered CYS was always behind in their payments,” said Tharan.
“We are fortunate in Clarion County that we can continue to make the CYS payments but other counties are not in such a good position,” Tharan said.