County agencies present budgets: aging services pressure grows; Drug & Alcohol presents small increase

Several county agencies presented FY2026-27 budgets and contract packages to the Board of Commissioners; the board approved provider contracts and budgets after discussion about sustainability and county support.

Adrian Laser and Jen Eisenhower of the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) presented 28 provider contracts totaling $987,000 and a balanced agency budget of $5.1 million, an increase of $232,782 over the prior year. The presenters said personnel costs rose because of union increases and salary study adjustments and that local program income and COVID/ARPA funds that previously eased county support are expiring. Laser told commissioners that if the state stops reimbursing AAA desk reviews the agency could face a $200,000 revenue shortfall. Commissioners approved the AAA provider contracts and the overall budget and discussed the near-term increase in county support required to sustain services.

Separately, Jim Don Moyer, executive director of the Lebanon County Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, and fiscal director Sita Das presented a FY2026-27 budget of $2,729,276, a 2.3% increase from the prior year driven largely by administrative and prevention costs. Don Moyer said federal funds and a carryover of rental-assistance revenue would balance the budget and that the commission did not plan to ask commissioners for additional funds for the coming year. Commissioners approved the drug-and-alcohol budget package.

Officials asked both agencies to continue reporting funding risks and any material changes as the state budget process continues.