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Allegany County health department seeks level funding for FY26, warns of state-level uncertainties
Summary
A health department representative asked commissioners to keep county support level-funded for FY26 at $1,547,543, citing program growth, grant dependence and uncertainty over state cost-of-living increases and potential cuts.
Gina, a representative of the Allegany County Health Department, told the Allegany County Commissioners the department is requesting a level-funded county contribution of $1,547,543 for fiscal 2026, the same reduced amount provided in the prior year.
Gina said that amount includes the required local match of $67,397 for a pass-through program and that the department has worked to hold local costs down by swapping state and grant funds and seeking additional grants. She described growth in programs addressing chronic disease, health disparities and a women’s health clinic, plus nutrition education classes offered to the public in collaboration with the library system.
Gina outlined several service areas supported by county funding, including environmental health (inspections and recalls), outpatient behavioral health and dental services, school-based nursing and jail-based medication-assisted treatment. She cited a recent recall response — removing recalled products from vape shops — as an example of the environmental program’s role in protecting public health.
On personnel costs, Gina said unions negotiated a 1% cost-of-living increase effective July 1 and that bargaining over increments remains unresolved; she said increments that together amount to roughly 2% could be limited to union members depending on final legislative outcomes. She also cautioned that past mid-year state reductions had forced a 10.37% cut to public health funding and said similar actions remain possible while the state budget session is unresolved.
Gina told commissioners the health department has replaced a 30-year-old generator and expanded school nursing coverage using grants, and that dental hygienists screened more than 6,253 children last year. She said the department will continue seeking grants to minimize the county share. Commissioners thanked the department and did not take formal action during the presentation.
