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Worcester County commissioners unanimously back health department request to seek adjustment to state core-funding match
Summary
County health officer asked commissioners to support a request to state public health officials to adjust the local match required for the state's CORE funding. Commissioners voted 7-0 to authorize a letter of support.
Worcester County commissioners voted unanimously April 1 to back the county health officer’s request that the Maryland Department of Health and the state budget office adjust the county’s required local-match share for state CORE public health funding.
The health officer told the board the county faces a “significant financial impact” from the state’s local-match requirement and that last year’s health funding process withheld $250,000 of a general fund appropriation pending a state report on how local match is determined. She said that report, submitted Oct. 20, 2024, did not redefine the match formula or expand CORE services and that she could not find a formal approval document in the public record even though she was told the funds were released.
The health officer described FY 2026 assumptions in the department’s requested budget, including a proposed reinstatement of one environmental health FTE and continued uncertainty about a state mandate on required CORE funding. She said the department’s FY 2026 budget request reflects a 59% local-match assumption pending any adjustment; the statutory formula implemented in FY 2024 and FY 2025 had required a substantially higher share before county negotiations reduced the county’s burden previously.
Commissioners agreed to support the health officer’s request that county staff prepare a letter asking state public health and budget officials to adjust the local-match requirement. Commissioner Bertino made the motion; Commissioner Peoria seconded. The board voted 7-0 in favor.
The health officer said the county’s prior negotiations produced large savings (she cited more than $12.5 million in avoided costs across FY 2024 and FY 2025) and asked the board to repeat that approach for FY 2026. The board recorded no amendments to the health department’s submitted figures during the work session and indicated support for the administration drafting the request to the state.
The commissioners’ vote was procedural authorizing county staff to prepare and send the requested letter; it did not itself change budget appropriations. The health officer identified the Maryland Department of Health and the Department of Budget and Management as the state offices that would receive the request.
