ALPENA — The District Health Department No. 4 board on Tuesday voted 5 to 3 to renew Health Officer Denise Bryan’s contract for one year and are considering giving her a raise while also considering “a lean budget” for 2020.

Bryan, who has been publicly criticized by subordinates in recent months, was allowed to discuss the raise with the District Health Department No. 2, which employs her. Bryan is contracted to work for District Health Department No. 4, which pays a percentage of her salary.

Presque Isle County Commissioner Lee Gapczynski and Cheboygan County Commissioners Michael Newman and Cal Gouine cast the dissenting votes. Gapczynski, Newman, and Gouine did not discuss the reasons for their dissenting votes, but general concerns over the Health Department’s budget were discussed.

Bryan did not ask for a raise during the meeting. Rather, Bryan said she would be willing to freeze her salary for next year and possibly for a second year if the Health Department’s budget is in the hole.

The $4.2 million DHD No. 4 budget proposed Tuesday is a 3.2% decrease — or nearly $138,000 less –than the $4.3 million budget adopted for this year. The proposed budget for 2020 includes the use of $138,000 of cash savings to offset the Health Department’s expenses. It wasn’t immediately clear how much money was in that cash account, but the department reported about $605,000 in 2018, the most recent year an annual report was available.

Bryan said she and Administrative Services Coordinator Judy Greer went over the budget “line by line” to get the budget as lean as they possibly could.

“We need to make sure we have informed leaders and then staff understands, as well, about revenues and expenses as applicable to their programs,” she said.

The budget also includes a proposed 2% increase in subsidies from Alpena, Montmorency, Presque Isle, and Cheboygan counties, which is required to keep the department eligible for federal grant funding.

The proposed increase means Alpena County will be asked to contribute $4,528 more, Montmorency County will be asked to provide $884 more, Presque Isle County $2,353 more, and Cheboygan County $5,048 more. Counties are currently spending a collective $640,693, according to the Health Department’s current budget.

Commissioners expressed concerns about those increases, because many of the counties are already dealing with their own budget issues. Alpena County Commissioner Brenda Fournier said the county couldn’t really afford the increase. Montmorency County Commissioner Daryl Peterson said his county’s budget is also tightening.

Commissioners agreed they would take the funding requests back to their boards for consideration.

The health board will be asked to approve the budget next month. The new budget will take effect on Jan. 1.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.

In other business

The District Health Department No. 4 board on Tuesday also:

∫ heard from Health Officer Denise Bryan that applications for the deputy health officer position are currently being reviewed. She said the position would start on Jan. 1.

∫ Bryan said the department is receiving applications for a vacant personal health director position for either Alpena or Cheboygan. She anticipates starting interviews in December.