Montgomery council advances health authority, leaves funding open

Montgomery City Council voted 6–3 on Nov. 3, 2026, to authorize formation of the proposed Healthcare Authority of Montgomery. The vote advances a plan to coordinate local healthcare priorities, but county participation and long-term funding remain unresolved.

Does the vote create a new tax? No. The resolution establishes no new tax and gives the proposed authority no power to levy one. It authorizes a governance framework, not a recurring budget or a completed city-county partnership.

How the proposed authority would be governed i

The proposed board would have seven voting directors: three appointed by the city, three by the Montgomery County Commission and one jointly appointed expert with healthcare-finance and community or public-health expertise. Two state-agency representatives would serve as nonvoting members. County participation is necessary for the proposed joint arrangement to move forward.

The resolution provides for annual independent financial audits, ethics and conflict-of-interest requirements, and an annual public community-benefit report to both the City Council and County Commission. Those provisions would establish regular financial and public reporting if the proposed authority moves ahead.

Priorities and the earlier cost estimate i

The authority would coordinate work on care for people unable to afford necessary medical services, emergency medical services, maternal and perinatal care, pediatric and behavioral- and mental-health services, hospital stabilization, public-health coordination and healthcare infrastructure. The city says forming the authority would not change Montgomery County’s existing state-law responsibility for indigent care.

At an earlier October discussion, Council President C.C. Calhoun estimated startup costs at about $250,000, reportedly split between the city and county, and said the authority might hire about six staff members. Those figures were estimates made before the Nov. 3 vote, not a budget or funding commitment adopted in the resolution. The ongoing funding mechanism remains undetermined.

During council discussion, members raised questions about county participation, sustainable funding and how the authority would complement existing healthcare providers. At an earlier October public discussion, one resident urged attention to mental-health care, while another objected to taxpayers supporting a struggling business.