The Harford County Council is considering bills to put almost $8.3 million toward 2015 post-employment benefits and $725,000 toward the Health Department.
Passage of both measures has been requested by County Executive Barry Glassman.
The bills, which were introduced during Tuesday's council meeting, include a regularly-scheduled payment toward the county's fund to set aside money toward the cost of providing other post-employment benefits, also known by OPEB, to retired employees. The most common such benefit is group health insurance.
The health department appropriation results from a late-arriving invoice from the state for operating costs of the local health department in 2014, county administration spokesperson Cindy Mumby said.
"The state invoices Harford County for funding Health Department [expenses]," she said.
Although the local health department is legally a state agency, the county is responsible for providing the money to run it.
In Bill 15-01, the OPEB funds, totaling $8,265,365, are coming from the county's assigned fund balance which was set aside to be used for such benefits, Mumby said.
Almost $6.4 million is coming from the main general fund balance account, while $894,000 and $795,000 is coming from the separate highway and water and sewer fund balances, respectively, according to the legislation.
OPEB set-asides have become an accounting driven requirement, similar to requirements that money be set aside for future pension liabilities.
Harford has one of the higher OPEB liability coverage rates in the region, members of the previous County Council were told by the county auditor last fall, but the percentage is still in the 25-30 percent range.
Bill 15-02, the transfer for the Health Department, also would move $725,354 from the county's general fund unappropriated fund balance, Mumby said.
Hearings on both bills are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Feb. 10 in the Council Chambers, 212 S. Bond St. in Bel Air.