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New Canaan health director presents leaner 2027 budget, flags inspection and staffing issues
Summary
Health Director Amy Lahaney told the Board of Finance the department’s 2027 operating request is down roughly 6% as salary and subscription lines shrink; she highlighted core services (food inspections, well permits, septic reviews), a part-time nurse funded in part by a grant that ends this fiscal year, and certification delays that slow restaurant inspections.
Amy Lahaney, New Canaan’s director of health, told the Board of Finance that the department’s proposed 2027 operating budget is smaller than last year’s as staff reorganization and reduced subscriptions lower expenses. “I’m the director of health. I started in June, and I am super excited to be here,” Lahaney said while outlining the department’s scope and staffing.
Lahaney described a compact team that includes a medical advisor, an administrative assistant (Deborah Katz), two sanitary and health program planners (Shannon Valerie and Kelsey McCarthy) and a part-time public health nurse (Ellen Samai). She said the department currently licenses about 106 food-service establishments, issues roughly 60 well permits a year, inspects 22 public pools and handles an array of environmental and community health responsibilities including soil testing and subsurface sewage permitting.
On the budget, Lahaney said the department’s overall expenses are down about 6%, driven largely by lower full-time salary lines and fewer service subscriptions. “Our increases this year are part-time salary line for our public health nurse. This is now budgeted at 12 hours a week,” she said, adding that a grant currently covers part of that nurse’s salary but will end at the close of the fiscal year.
Board members pressed for detail on inspection counts and fee governance. Lahaney said her inspection totals are calculated from licensed-establishment classifications and that a spike in prior years likely reflected post–COVID catch-up inspections. She also noted a statewide certification backlog that has delayed completion of inspector training and contributes to inspection pressure.
The director said revenue projections were prepared using averages and medians to reduce COVID-era distortion and that she will undertake a fee-benchmarking review this summer. On authority questions, board members reminded attendees that the town’s fee schedule is reviewed by the board of selectmen.
The presentation closed after members confirmed Lahaney has the basic resources she needs and asked for any follow-up information on fees and staffing projections.
