Health department discusses rent decrease, county appropriation increase
Konwinski says rent payments are a burden to the budget
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ALPENA -- District Health Department No. 4 (DHD4) discussed the possibility of moving locations in Montmorency County and requested decreases in rent from three of the four counties DHD4 covers. The department is also requesting an increase in appropriations paid to the department from the counties it serves.
DHD4 covers Alpena, Montmorency, Presque Isle, and Cheboygan counties. The health department has a physical office space in each county and each county pays the health department appropriations for services that are state mandated.
Currently, DHD4 pays rent for buildings in Alpena, Rogers City, and Cheboygan and the department has a private lease agreement for a building in Atlanta.
In total, the health department paid $230,000 in rent for fiscal year 2026.
According to Michelle Konwinski, DHD4 finance director, about 30% of DHD4's budget goes towards unfunded pension liabilities. She added that another large expense in the budget goes towards rent.
"We are also spending a sizable amount of our budget, as we just mentioned, on our rent," she said.
She explained that the Alpena building is the most expensive, costing the department about $138,000 a year to the county. That equates to $11,500 a month, including utilities.
She added that the department's rent obligations have to be "discussed."
"It's long overdue and it needs to be addressed," she said.
According to Konwinski, the Alpena DHD4 building sits on property that is owned by Alpena Community College (ACC). The building itself was built by the health department, at which time it entered a tri-party agreement with both the college and Alpena County. At one point in its history, DHD4 owned the building outright but after a number of years the ownership reverted to the county. The county currently owns the building, but ownership will eventually be turned over to the college.
Konwinski explained that once the building is turned over to the college, the health department will have little control over rent.
"So once the college has it, we have absolutely no way to control the rent," she said.
Konwinski requested that health board members appointed to the board return to their respective county boards to request a decrease in rent.
She added that compared to other health departments, DHD4 pays significantly more. She said some departments pay "less than" $1,000 per year.
Konwinski explained that the goal of the health department is to work with the counties to come to an agreement that suits both entities.
"However this shakes out, whatever we can work out with the counties, whether increased appropriations or decreased rent expense or some combination of the two, we need to have some county involvement so that we can use the money that the MDHHS gives us to spend more of that money serving the people that we're supposed to serve," she added. "It's what we're required to do."
Montmorency is excluded from this request as DHD4 leases with a private landlord. Unfortunately, the owner of the DHD4 location in Atlanta recently died. This puts DHD4 in a precarious spot in the event that the building is sold.
"We also started the process for Atlanta because we are not sure, and we cannot afford to have somebody say, 'Here’s your 30 days notice,'" Konwinski said.
Health department leadership has set eyes on a location in Lewiston which would safeguard the department in the event that the Atlanta location is sold. Konwinski said that Lewiston would be a good move since it is an underserved area and would be a marketable area to draw from for new clientele.
"We would likely attract more people because we were highly visible," she said. "We’re close to our community partners in Lewiston."
Compared to the Atlanta rent which costs $1,200 a month, plus utilities, Lewiston would cost $2,600, plus utilities.
Konwinski added that the Lewiston location agreement would include "build to suit" and that the rent price would be locked in for three years.
In addition to the rent request, the health department will also officially request a 5% increase in appropriations from the four counties to cover inflation.
"Which I feel is very fair considering inflation and that sort of thing," Konwinski said.
In February, the health board approved to increase Alpena, Cheboygan, Presque Isle, and Montmorency counties by 5%. At that meeting, Konwinski stated that the increase would generate $18,745 additional revenue.
Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.