Legislature considers budget amendment to add transport aides and assistant dietary director at county residential healthcare facility

County presenters asked the Albany County Legislature to amend the 2025 budget for the Department of Residential Healthcare Facilities to add three positions tied to new revenue-generating services.

A county representative said the RLA would add two full-time transportation aide positions to support an ambulance/medical transportation service; the positions were described as certified nursing assistant roles with an annual salary of $48,005.26 each and a fourth-quarter 2025 cost attributable to 2025 of $12,131 for those positions. The presenter said the cost would be offset by revenue generated by a fee-for-service ambulance program.

The same presenter said the amendment also would add an Assistant Director of Dietary Services to supervise a new retail cafe. The annual salary for that position was presented as $65,000, with $16,250 attributable to 2025. The presenter said the position's cost would be offset by revenue generated by the cafe and characterized the package as budget neutral.

A member asked that Director Mark Holden be present to address the item; the presenter noted Holden was not available for the session. The presenter invited questions and said they would be happy to provide additional details about revenue projections and staffing if requested.

The transcript excerpt presenting this item did not include a recorded roll-call vote or named mover/second in the excerpt. The meeting materials submitted with the item described the positions, salaries and the intended revenue offsets.