Rachel Sayer, director of the Emergency Management Department, told the Minneapolis City Council Budget Committee on Oct. 7 that a federal grant the city has relied on for several years will fall dramatically for the next grant cycle, and the department will cut one specialized training as a result.

"For the upcoming fiscal year grant that would start sometime next year for us, we were allocated just $10,000," Sayer said, describing a prior planning assumption of about $900,000 for the FEMA grant the city had received in the earlier cycle.

The cut matters because the Emergency Management Department has a small staff and relies heavily on grant funding. Sayer said the department has 10 personnel (one part time) and a 2026 budget of about $2,300,000, with roughly 64% of that budget related to personnel. She said approximately 40% of the personnel budget has historically come from federal grants; in the current budget cycle 3 FTEs are funded by the general fund and 6.5 are funded by grants.

Sayer said the department will account for the reduced federal allocation by cutting one specialized Emergency Operations Center (EOC) training in the coming year, a savings she described as roughly $25,000. "We are just cutting one training per year, that will be the equivalent of around this $25,000," Sayer said, adding the training would be held the following year instead, creating a gap in the coming year.

Committee members pressed on readiness and legal or programmatic requirements. Vice Chair Koski asked whether reducing the training would affect compliance with National Incident Management System (NIMS) expectations or after-action requirements. Sayer replied the NIMS maintenance program the council has funded will remain intact and that the reduction creates a temporary gap rather than an outright inability to meet requirements: "I wouldn't say that we're not meeting requirements. I would say that we are continually striving across the board to set expectations of what best practice is ... Having one training this one year is not going to make such a substantial difference either way," she said.

Sayer described recent department work and performance measures the committee reviewed: the department has signed up more than 20,000 subscribers for National Weather Service alerts by texting "MPLS alerts" to 77295; it revamped and delivered a one-hour household-level ReadyCamp in collaboration with Minneapolis Community Education; it stood up three emergency operation centers in 2025, including one in response to the Aug. 20 Annunciation mass shooting that recorded more than 1,500 visits for services; and the department reported roughly 10,000 people reached by its outreach last year with an expectation to exceed that this year.

Council members and staff discussed how to replace the lost federal funding. Sayer said she had been told by colleagues that restoring the shortfall was a mayoral priority but did not provide a specific funding source. Vice Chair Koski and other council members volunteered to "champion" efforts with the mayor's office and look for creative options; Koski said she would work with colleagues and the mayor's team to explore solutions.

The committee documented the presentation for the record. Chair Ayesha Chugtai directed the clerk to file the Emergency Management Department's budget presentation after the Q&A.