Northampton County plans to add a staff member in its Veteran Affairs office, Director of Human Services Sue Wandalowski said Thursday.
“There are just over 17,000 veterans in Northampton County,” Wandalowski told County Council during a budget hearing Wednesday, and there is a staff of only two to help them. She wants to add a third.
The office now consists of Director of Veteran Affairs Alex Carrillo, who is a U.S. Army veteran, and one assistant. Their job is to help veterans get federal and state benefits they earned by serving their country. Carrillo served in the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Alex and his assistant are making new appointments every day for veterans to come in and see him,” Wandalowski said, and appointments are starting to stretch out weeks in advance.
Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure appointed Carrillo to lead the veteran affairs office in 2020.
That office accounts for very little of Wandalowski’s $304 million budget, which accounts for 56% of projected county spending in 2023. However, most of the money comes from the federal government and the state, not local property taxes.
“Only 6% of our budget is county dollars,” Wandalowski said.
The Human Services Department includes the budgets for the Gracedale nursing home, services for abused children and their families, and managed care for mental health and substance abuse.
McClure’s proposed 2023 operating budget of $544.8 million is $25.5 million less than the 2022 spending plan. His budget keeps the property tax at 10.8 mills, or $540 in tax on a property assessed at $50,000. Each mill is equal to a tax of $1 per $1,000 in assessed value.
County Council, led by President Lori Vargo Heffner, has two more budget hearings on its schedule: Public Works will be reviewed Nov. 9 and budget amendments will be considered Nov. 29, with both meetings at 4:30 p.m. in the government center in Easton.
The current plan is to vote on McClure’s budget at council’s regular meeting Dec. 1.
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