The adopted 2019 Monroe County budget includes:

– A shifting of 6 Dept. of Public Health clerical staff to respond to the collapse of Early Intervention (EI) Service Coordination programs in community agencies. A proposal to create a wait list for infants and toddlers referred for EI evaluation was withdrawn.

– An increase of $1.8 M in County spending on child care subsidies.

– Addition of 30 case aide positions in Child Protective Services.

– A ten-cent reduction in the County’s property tax rate and an increase in assessed valuation, leading to $11.6 M more projected property tax revenue in 2019 over 2018.

In this report, we provide commendations for several allocations in Monroe County’s 2019 Adopted Budget and priority recommendations for further action in 2019.