Barnstable County department heads present FY2026 "level services" budgets; focus on regional IT services, human services grants, child advocacy and lab growth

Barnstable County department directors gave delegates a high-level review of their FY2026 budget requests on March 5, describing largely “level services” submissions while flagging specific priorities for committee review.

Billy Traverse, county IT director, told the assembly the department presented a request reflecting a roughly 5% budget increase driven mostly by fixed costs and cloud licensing. Traverse said the county’s IT operation also provides regional services to towns, invoicing about $500,000 in recent years, and recommended a regional-services assessment (possibly with grant support) to make the program sustainable. He also flagged cybersecurity and AI governance as priorities and said the department has begun small pilots to manage AI usage and data-security needs.

Joe Pacheco, director of Human Services, summarized nine programmatic areas (behavioral health, aging/wellness, SHINE Medicare counseling, substance-use prevention, housing and homelessness programs including the regional shared services pilot and Continuum of Care tools) and said the department has 11 staff, only three of whom are fully supported by the county’s general fund. Pacheco said the department’s total budget is about $7,000,000, of which roughly $1,000,000 is general-fund support; most programming is grant-funded. He reported 183 volunteers and about 5,812 volunteer hours (valued at roughly $250,000 in kind) in recent years.

Stacy Gallagher, director of Children’s Cove (the county child advocacy center), described services for about 300 child victims a year, including forensic interviews, family advocacy, on-site medical exams by a sexual-assault nurse examiner, and mental-health referrals. Children’s Cove has nine full-time county employees and grant funding that Gallagher listed at approximately $689,000; the center requested a FY2026 level-services budget of roughly $1,615,000 and reported no new positions requested. Gallagher emphasized that island services (Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket) are funded by state grants and the nonprofit Friends of Children’s Cove, not by Barnstable County’s general fund.

Erica Woods, deputy director (presenting for newly arrived director Jay Gardner), summarized the Department of Health & Environment’s divisions — wastewater/aqua fund and septic programs, public health nursing, environmental services, a water-quality laboratory, and the Mass Test Center — and said the department is requesting modest staffing additions tied to lab growth. Woods noted the department anticipates a 6% increase overall and is proposing two-and-a-half additional full-time equivalents in the laboratory: an assistant director (estimated salary and fringe about $140,000), a chemist to operate upgraded GCMS equipment for PFAS work, and a part‑time microbiologist (about $35,000 without fringe). She reported that the laboratory began in-house PFAS18 analysis and projected PFAS revenue for FY2026 of about $262,000. Woods said FY2025 lab revenue was budgeted at $850,000 and, as of March 1, the lab had invoiced about $815,000.

Most departments described their FY2026 requests as level services (no new ongoing operating programs), while flagging inflation-driven increases in salaries and benefits and a need to pursue grants and shared-service arrangements with towns.

Quotes - "We have a 5% increase over FY '25, and it's driven primarily by fixed costs," said Billy Traverse, IT director. - "As we were instructed by administration, we are presenting to you a level services budget," said Joe Pacheco, director of Human Services.

Next steps Delegates were told the presentations are a prelude to finance and standing-committee review. Several presenters noted more detailed questions would be taken up in committee hearings where staff and finance will provide line-item detail and follow-up.