Mohave County Department of Public Health presents FY26 budget; Board approves recommendation to Board of Supervisors

Mohave County Department of Public Health Director Melissa Palmer presented the department’s preliminary fiscal year 2026 budget to the Board of Health and the board voted to approve the recommended budget for submission to the Mohave County Board of Supervisors.

Palmer provided a high‑level overview of the department’s funding structure: FY26 preliminary budget shows approximately 52 percent grant funding, 17 percent fees, 12 percent other revenues and 19 percent general fund support. She noted recent federal‑to‑state funding shifts that reduced some grant lines and led the department to reassign certain expenses temporarily. Palmer also said three contracts were scaled back in March and that several other grants will end June 30 as scheduled.

Palmer highlighted senior‑program funding constraints, including a required 10 percent match for WACOG grants and variable site‑council contributions across locations. She explained environmental health is primarily fee‑funded, while many community‑health programs rely on grants and restricted funding.

Director Palmer emphasized staffing and turnover concerns. The department’s 2024 headcount was presented alongside a turnover rate and current staffing levels: public‑health nurse positions have been reduced over time from a historical high (nine nurses in earlier years) to fewer funded positions and two positions still frozen; Palmer said population growth increases demand for nursing services and that nurse vacancies can pull staff away from routine duties when outbreak investigations or special clinics arise. She requested an overlap hire for a vital‑records position (a staff member retiring in August) to preserve service continuity and cited three other targeted FY26 initiatives: a WIC supervisory reclassification, a vacant environmental health training position to support food‑code transition, and maintaining mobile‑health unit ARPA funding.

Palmer said the department has reduced spending in some areas (open positions, decreased personnel services) and is managing timing differences between expenditures and grant reimbursements. She said contingency funding will be used in FY26 to minimize general‑fund impact and noted one prior general‑fund transfer to mosquito abatement ($25,000) was expected to be paused, which affects operational choices for vector control.

Board members asked clarifying questions about site councils, senior‑program operations, which grants fund particular staff, and the department’s plan to restore or reallocate public‑health nurse capacity. The board moved and seconded approval of the FY26 proposed budget; the vote to recommend the budget to the Board of Supervisors passed without roll‑call tally recorded in the transcript.