Title
Presentation: Health Department Update
Body
Issue/Request:
The City Council directed staff to explore the options relating to the creation of a “Municipal Health Department” for the City of Lee's Summit. A presentation was made to the full Council at the September 14, 2021 meeting. Based upon that report the City Council requested additional information: a) what are the types of health services and related costs for better-aligned “comparator communities”, b) would it be possible to assign a portion of the approximate $4.2M of Public Health property taxes paid by Lee’s Summit taxpayers to the City of Lee's Summit, and c) would there be an “Eastern Jackson County” regional interest to create an independent health department?
Comparator Communities
Based upon the comparison of the five existing Missouri municipalities operating a Health Department, staff was requested to conduct an analysis of “comparator communities”. The five Missouri municipalities that currently operate a health department have demographics that are not similar to the City of Lee’s Summit. Bakertilly Consulting has done national research to find communities that have similar demographic profiles to Lee’s Summit and operate a municipal health department. That analysis has been completed and will be presented to the Council by Bakertilly.
Allocation of Property Tax Revenues to Lee’s Summit
As directed by the City Council, staff requested the following information from Jackson County as it relates to the Health Department:
a. What are the most common services provided by the Jackson County Health Department for the residents, businesses, and property owners in the City of Lee's Summit?
b. Do you have statistics indicating the utilization of the Health Department services in Lee’s Summit?
c. Based upon the Jackson County Health Property Tax Levy, we estimate that approximately $4.2M is generated as a result of the City of Lee's Summit’s property assessment values. What percentage of the $4.2M would be assigned to the operation of the Jackson County Health Department?
d. If the City of Lee’s Summit created a municipal health department, we would desire to have Jackson County Health Department retain certain services that tend to be more costly and used less frequently within the Lee’s Summit community. Please provide any thoughts you may have as it relates to the possible assignment of services between the City of Lee's Summit and Jackson County Health Department.
On December 1, 2021 I received a copy of the Jackson County Health Department Service Overview / 2019-2021 as the response to these inquiries. This is a general report and does not address the specific questions that have been asked relating to the City of Lee’s Summit. Further discussion and financial review will be necessary to garner more information.
Eastern Jackson County Regional Interest
City staff has contacted the City of Independence and requested an informational meeting as it relates to how this community established its Health Department. We are hoping this may also be an opportunity to explore this community’s interest in creating a regional health department for eastern Jackson County communities. The goal was to conduct the meeting prior to the December 7, 2021 City Council meeting to include information in this report. We will continue to work on establishing the informational meeting and share our knowledge as quickly as possible.
Other Information/Unique Characteristics:
Significant statistical information was provided to the City Council at the September 14, 2021 meeting regarding operational costs and services of Health Departments. To prepare for the December 7, 2021 review, it would be beneficial to follow this link back to the September 14, 2021 information: https://lsmo.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5129556&GUID=EEFF6C85-EC95-407A-8CF2-69CB939A7152
Presenter
Steve Arbo, City Manager
Jack Ryan-Feldman, Baker Tilley