City more than doubles funding amount

EPHRATA — The Grant County Health District won't get the $2 per citizen the agency is seeking from the city of Ephrata in 2007.

The Ephrata City Council went even further, approving $2.50 per citizen during Wednesday's meeting.

Ephrata's total contribution for 2007 is now $17,325, City Administrator Wes Crago said. The city gave $1.00 per citizen in 2006.

Some cities and towns in Grant County chose not to help fund the health district in 2007. The agency provides a variety of services, including responding to outbreaks of foodborne illnesses and infectious diseases.

Mayor Chris Jacobson said Ephrata has a "moral responsibility" to contribute funding to the health district. He urged the council to increase funding levels from 2006, "no matter what the other cities do."

The health district's services include overseeing health assistance to low-income women and children. The agency inspects food establishments, approves septic tank systems, provides immunizations and offers AIDS screening and counseling.

Ephrata, with a population of 5,604 in 1993, contributed $9,900 to the health district, Crago said. In 1988, the city provided $8,100 with 5,381 people, he said.

Even though the agency's name is the Grant County Health District, it's not run or controlled by the county, said Grant County Commissioner Richard Stevens Wednesday.

Stevens attended the council meeting, reporting on the county's level of health district funding. Stevens said the county is paying $160,000 out of its current expense budget. The county also provides office space for the health district in both Moses Lake and Ephrata. Total contributions by the county for the health district in 2007 tops $300,000.

Stevens said funding the health district is the responsibility of every citizen in Grant County.

"(The health district) is not just working in the county, they're working in the cities too," Stevens said. "We're all in it together."

Crago told the council the county is providing about $3.76 for every citizen in the county, including city residents, in 2007.

The council unanimously approved the funding.