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Garrett County Health Department outlines FY26 budget needs, lists new grants and service volumes
Summary
Health Department staff presented a near-$19 million FY26 budget, asking the county for $2.5 million in level funding; presenters cited increased salary and insurance costs, several multi-year grant awards and expected to return excess funds to the county from reconciled FY24 accounts.
Jennifer, representing the Garrett County Health Department, presented the department's fiscal year 2026 budget request and program highlights to the Board of Commissioners.
———"I am pleased to present the Garrett County Health Department budget this year," Jennifer said, opening the briefing and then listing 2024 service outputs including 810 influenza vaccinations, 11,139 behavioral health treatment sessions, 2,822 peer recovery services and more.
The department told commissioners it operates roughly 79 program areas and 144 full-time-equivalent positions. Its FY26 request includes a county funding ask of $2.5 million (level funding). The presenter said fee-for-service revenue is projected at about $5.7 million and grant income is "just over" $11 million, yielding a total budget close to $19 million. Major drivers cited were state-mandated salary steps and a minimum-wage adjustment the presenter said increased the county's share of salary-related costs by about $575,000; employee and retiree health insurance was said to rise roughly $170,000.
The health department reported several recently awarded grants the presentation lists by name and amount: a CareFirst base grant of $350,000 (over three years), a CHRC annual award of $360,000 (over three years) that includes remote patient monitoring and transportation for out-of-county Medicare transports, an Alzheimer's Association award of $48,000, a perinatal care award of $35,000, and an opioid restitution grant of $238,000 for the next 18 months. The presenter said termination of some federal COVID-related grants reduced other funding by more than $380,000 for next year.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about multi-year grant totals and timing; health department staff confirmed multi-year figures represented total awards spread across the cited periods. The presenter said the department expects to return an excess of about $500,000 to the county after reconciling FY24 accounts with the Maryland Department of Health.
The presentation concluded with the department's request for county-level funding and an offer to answer additional questions during budget deliberations.
