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Lord Fairfax Health District outlines services and seeks larger county contribution after FY‑25 shortfall
Summary
Local health director Tara Blackley and business manager Leanne Sweeney told supervisors the district has a funding shortfall for FY‑2025 and requested $462,534 for FY‑2026 to restore a vacant environmental health position and draw down state match funding.
The Lord Fairfax Health District asked the Warren County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 14 to increase its FY‑2026 contribution to the local health department after a shortfall in FY‑2025 forced staff reassignment.
Tara Blackley, Warren County’s local health director, and Leanne Sweeney, the district business manager, reviewed public‑health services and the district’s budget situation. Blackley said the district has rebuilt its environmental health unit after staff losses during COVID and described services in Warren County including environmental health inspections (nearly 300 in 2024), septic and well permitting (about 450 applications per year) and animal‑exposure investigations averaging about 235 reports in five years.
Sweeney said the district requested $488,057 from Warren County for FY‑2025; the board approved $420,000. To draw down the full state match on that budget, the district needed an additional $24,744; when that sum was not approved last year, district leaders said they moved a Warren County environmental health specialist to another locality to avoid layoffs. Sweeney said the total shortfall (county plus state match) was about $53,000 in FY‑2025.
For FY‑2026 the district is requesting $462,534 from Warren County, Sweeney said. She and Blackley said the requested increase reflects projected personnel costs, the governor’s approved 3 percent pay increase and other program needs; they said the district had reduced non‑personnel expenditures before making the request.
Supervisors pressed staff on year‑to‑date figures and projections; Sweeney explained the timing differences are driven by grant periods and invoice cycles and that some grant years do not align with the county fiscal year. Blackley said the district has already had early complaints from customers because a vacant environmental health position was temporarily reassigned.
The board did not take immediate action at the Jan. 14 meeting; the request will be part of the county’s FY‑2026 budget deliberations in March.
