Calvert commissioners authorize public hearing and demand local data after state raises health department match

Calvert County commissioners on Jan. 28 voted to authorize a public hearing and asked health department leaders to provide a detailed, local accounting of programs, staffing and which services are eligible for state core funding before the hearing.

The request follows a state recalculation of core funding that left the county with an increased local match for FY2025. Jennifer Moreland, director of Community Resources, told commissioners that under the state's formula Calvert County is required to provide $5,824,001.52 in local funds for core health services for FY2025; the county's approved budget was short about $2,359,204.

Why it matters: State law sets a local match for core public health funding intended to pay for foundational services. County officials said the recalculation reflects a long-standing wealth formula, and Commissioners said they want to see precisely what county dollars buy before adding more to the budget.

Moreland read the state agreement and said Calvert currently provides $4,527,078 in funding and in-kind support to the health department while the state's core contribution approved in recent paperwork was roughly $3,000,004.64. She said the state will not count certain local behavioral-health or safe-harbor shelter funding as match-eligible under the current rules.

Health officer Dr. Denise Laura and Deputy Health Officer Champ Cuddy described how some existing local programs and infrastructure are funded and noted that the state holds final authority to permit which local costs qualify as "core". Dr. Laura said the state delay in delivering core-match paperwork had compressed the county's timeline to respond.

Commissioners asked for a line-by-line accounting. Several commissioners expressed frustration at the timing and magnitude of the request from the state; one described the prospect of losing state reimbursement as a "gun to your head." County Administrator Mark Willis told the board staff would identify where the county could temporarily cover critical health-department needs (leases, essential software and preparedness supplies) if the board chose to delay a formal appropriation.

The board approved a motion to advertise a public hearing on the core-funding budget amendment; the motion was amended and carried to require the health department to deliver a localized, program-by-program breakdown, including staffing allocations, at or before the Feb. 11 public work session so commissioners and the public can review the material ahead of the hearing (hearing currently scheduled in late February). County staff and the county attorney were asked to prepare the fiscal options, including where any required funds for FY2025 would come from.

Commissioners and health staff highlighted programs they said are producing measurable results, including overdose-prevention efforts and a maternal-child initiative that links new mothers to services. Health staff said some program activity is difficult to capture (for example, community distribution of naloxone that may not enter law-enforcement or EMS datasets) but that fatal overdoses have declined.

What's next: The health department will deliver the requested localized program and staffing data to commissioners before the public hearing; finance staff will outline possible sources for the additional FY2025 county match. The board will hold the advertised hearing before formally amending the FY2025 budget.

Ending: Commissioners emphasized they would press the state to clarify the long-standing wealth formula and urged county staff to prepare options that protect essential public-health services while tightening oversight of how local match dollars are attributed.