New Castle County presents FY2026 recommended budget; health-care costs and reassessment drive use of reserves and federal funds

Jill Florie, chief financial officer for New Castle County, told county council at an FY2026 budget hearing that the administration’s recommended operating budget relies on reserves and federal revenue replacement to absorb sharply higher health-care and contractual costs. Florie presented an overall operating budget recommendation of about $371,000,000 and said the general fund budget is up roughly 5.17% from the prior year.

Florie said negotiated wages and benefits were the largest cost drivers in the FY2026 recommendation and that prescription and medical expenses had risen significantly since October. “We are anticipating at this point a $4,800,000 deficit going into the end of the fiscal year,” she said, citing year‑to‑date actuals. To balance the FY2026 recommendation, the county is drawing more heavily on prior‑year reserves and on ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) revenue replacement; Florie said the budget uses about $5,300,000 more of reserves or ARPA than the prior year.

Why it matters: the budget outlines how the county intends to fund ongoing services while coping with rising personnel and benefits costs and the fallout from a…