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Pitt County Health Department presents $17.3M request; Manning warns of technical deficit until fund balance appropriation
Summary
Angie Manning reported April financials showing $7.5M revenue and $10.7M expenditures year‑to‑date and a technical deficit that the department expects to cover with a $5.9M fund‑balance appropriation; Wes Gray outlined a $17.35M departmental budget request and several proposed fee changes.
Angie Manning, presenting the department's April financial closing, said the health department had collected $7,497,241 in revenue through March and recorded year‑to‑date expenditures of $10,719,611. "We are currently, technically by math, running in a deficit of $3,488,006," Manning said, but added that the department expects a $5.9 million fund‑balance appropriation to be recorded later in the fiscal year.
Manning told the board that spending controls are in place and that remaining drawdowns will target grant and state agreement addendum expenditures. She said Medicaid cost settlements and directed Medicaid payments are being tracked as part of revenue reconciliation.
Wes Gray, the health director, outlined the department's budget request and the county manager's recommendation: "The budget request for this year, we requested $17,347,303. The manager recommended $17,138,904," Gray said. He described the revenue mix that underpins the request: a large portion from fund balance ($9,136,267), federal and state funds ($4,243,342), and insurance, grants and other sources ($3,492,557).
Gray described proposed program and fee changes to improve service sustainability: adding an advanced practice provider to expand primary care, proposing a $25 fee for a birthing class (aligned with Medicaid billable rates), eliminating a $10 fee for Cribs for Kids to remove financial barriers, and adjusting environmental health plan‑review fees to match peer counties. He also said two requested positions — a Nurse 2 and a half‑time interpreter — were not included in the manager's recommended budget and would remain unfunded pending further decisions.
Board members sought clarifications on the fee structure, the difference between county appropriation and fund balance, and the potential service impacts of using fund balance. Gray said he did not anticipate immediate service reductions and that changes to fund‑balance usage are intended to return reserves toward a normal buffer over time.
The board received the financial and budget presentations; the manager's recommended budget will proceed through the county's budget process.
