Staffing issues, rising costs aired at budget hearing

LACONIA — Hiring and retaining employees is the major challenge facing Belknap County departments and the issue goes a long way in explaining the increases in the county budget being proposed for next year, the County Delegation was told as the lawmakers received a formal budget presentation Thursday.

Nursing Home Administrator Shelley Richardson and Corrections Superintendent Adam Cunningham highlighted the issue as they gave their budget presentation to 15 lawmakers at a two-hour public hearing into the $33.4 million budget being proposed by the county commissioners.

The budget the commissioners are recommending is 5.6% higher than the current budget, Spanos told the delegation. But he said that the increases were inevitable given the increase in inflation which now stands at 6.7%.

“There’s been a spiral of expenses for all of us,” he said.

Spanos acknowledged that the spending blueprint would result in a 36% increase in the county’s share of the a person’s tax bill. But in terms of real dollars that would result in an increase of $117 for someone with a house assessed at $300,000. While not playing down that increase, he stressed that a good portion of it was due to “needs of the nursing home,” where the staff has been decimated by a flurry of departures by nurses, lured away by higher pay offered by other local health-care facilities.

Richardson told the representatives that so far this year there has been a 70% turnover among LNAs at the long-term care facility, and a 52% turnover among registered nurses and LPNs.

County commissioners are supporting Richardson’s budget request of $13.45 million — an increase of 14%. As proposed, the nursing home budget comprises the largest single share of the county budget — 40%.

Richardson said the nursing home has for months been forced to operate at two-thirds its licensed capacity because of the inability to hire new full-time employees to replace those who have left.

In response to a question from state Rep. Ray Howard, of Alton, Richardson said the nursing home has no plan to open up its vacant wing to help to alleviate the surge of COVID patients who are jamming hospitals across the state.

“We’ve got the beds, but we don’t have the staff to care for more residents,” she said.

Speaking to the challenges at the nursing home, Gilford resident David Osman urged the delegation to consider social consequences of the issue along with the financial considerations.

“Try to keep in mind what the future may be like,” he said. “Keep the politics and tensions out if it.”

He was confident that a majority of residents support the additional funds to keep the nursing home operating.

“If you pitch this right the people will understand it,” he said.

Cunningham said there has been a 40% turnover in the Corrections Department this year. While he reported that he has been able to fill all the vacancies, he said those who have left have all sought better-paying jobs in other fields.

Cunningham is seeking funds to add one more correctional officer to the department.

County Attorney Andrew Livernois urged the delegation to support his request for two additional lawyers in his office. As he told commissioners a few months back, Livernois and the four other attorneys in his office are handling an average of 140 cases at one time, much higher than the caseload of 75 to 100 cases recommended by the state Attorney General’s Office.

The budget will now be taken up by the delegation’s Executive Committee which will review it in detail before making its recommendation to the full 18-member delegation.

A move to add two more members to the committee during the budget review lost on a 6-9 vote.

State Rep. Tim Lang, of Sanbornton, had asked that two of the delegation’s newer members be added to the panel so that more members would become familiar with the process.

Delegation Chair Mike Sylvia said any delegation member can attend the Executive Committee meetings, and he indicated they would have the opportunity to give input if they chose to.

Last year the committee met five times — each time with different department heads — before presenting its budget recommendation to the full delegation a final vote.