Richland County HHS schedules July 3 public hearing, begins 2026 budget planning

Richland County Health and Human Services set a public hearing on the 2026 budget for July 3 at 5 p.m. and began internal planning for next year’s budget during its meeting.

The public hearing date was agreed at the meeting to be July 3 at 5 p.m., with staff saying that is the typical evening slot for the county’s hearing. The discussion then moved to early planning for the 2026 budget, including an instruction to update the capital improvement plan and to await further direction from the county administrator.

The HHS director told the committee that managers have been asked to review their individual line items and identify needs, and that some program administration may shift between units — for example, administration of the Coordinated Services Team (CST) could move from the behavioral health clinic to the children’s unit. Staff also said grant budgets for programs such as CST, TAD and SOAR are already under review and that a separate grant-approval item may be added to a future agenda. "We always kind of keep a list of, like, this is something we want to look at for 2026 budget," the director said.

Staff emphasized ongoing uncertainty in state and federal funding decisions and said that, given that uncertainty, the department expects to maintain near status quo for 2026 unless further guidance requires changes. One attendee noted that several statewide organizations and counties are advocating on Medicaid and Medicare funding, and that local groups including the American Legion and the Wisconsin Hospital Association have been active in advocacy.

The board set no further budget decisions at the meeting; the July 3 public hearing is intended to collect public input before the department finalizes recommendations for county review.