Davis County health fund faces multiyear decline as federal relief wanes, department warns

Brian (department) presented the Davis County Health Department’s proposed 2026 budget to the Davis County Budget Committee on Sept. 29, saying the department faces a multi‑year funding cliff as federal and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars decline.

“Health department’s taken very specific hits recently with a lot of federal funding that has disappeared,” Brian said, adding that ARPA funding in the department will run out by the end of this year or by the end of 2026. He said the department has projected revenue of about $12,500,000 for public health and about $3,300,000 for senior services in 2026, and that property taxes are projected at roughly $6,000,000.

Brian said personnel expenditures are down in the 2026 proposal after eliminating roughly 20 positions compared with last year and that the department expects to reduce payroll costs by more than $1 million. “That’s estimated just over 20 positions that we have eliminated from last year to this year,” he said. He also noted one‑time passthrough items — primarily Women, Infants and Children (WIC) vouchers — inflate both revenues and expenditures and do not represent recurring county revenue.

Nut graf: The presentation framed a structural gap between ongoing costs — chiefly personnel and allocations —…