Montgomery County official: $117M reimbursed, about $68M of FEMA public-assistance funding still pending

A staff member from the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security told the council’s joint committee that the county has received $117,000,000 in FEMA public-assistance reimbursements, about $68,000,000 remains in various stages of FEMA approval, and roughly $50,000,000 of that amount is in the final stages of review.

The official said county staff have submitted $218,000,000 in total for reimbursement, $185,000,000 has been approved and $33,000,000 was deemed not eligible. The remaining $68,000,000 includes three major projects: a food program ($17,500,000, pending large-project notification), operating expenses and personal protective equipment ($26,400,000, currently in environmental and historical‑preservation review), and an additional operating‑expense/PPE project (about $6,000,000, in quality‑assurance review). The official said FEMA has added a new manual review step at the end of its roughly 17‑step process and that FEMA “expect[s] that to take less than 30 days,” but noted there is no precedent for the review and timing remains uncertain.

Why it matters: the funds reimburse county COVID‑related public‑assistance costs and operating expenses for response activities; delays or additional audit steps can affect county cash flow and program administration.

The official described additional, narrower issues the county is pursuing: two determinations are under appeal (including $38,000 for personnel support costs and a denied $1,400,000 in overtime of the $3,100,000 submitted for school health personnel). A non‑congregate sheltering project — which the official said requires more contract documentation because FEMA distinguishes congregate from non‑congregate sheltering — accounts for roughly $40,000,000 of the pending balance.

Committee members pressed for clarity about the Federal and state funding chain. The official confirmed the flow is from the Department of Homeland Security to FEMA and then to the state and local jurisdictions. Council Member Lukey asked whether the $33,000,000 deemed ineligible was concentrated in particular categories; the official said most of that ineligibility reflected food expenses the county could not prove were attributable solely to COVID because similar services were provided before the pandemic.

Council members also discussed a separate but related freeze: the Department of Homeland Security has notified the state that it is auditing preparedness grants and placed a temporary pause on some grant obligations. The official said that preparedness grants fund a large share of state emergency‑management staffing (the transcript referenced roughly 85–87 percent) and that OEMHS itself has 21 full‑time employees, about 10 of whom are grant‑funded. The official said the county is seeking to move some positions off short‑term grant funding into sustained county funding in the coming budget request because the work is critical and grant funding can be uncertain.

The official told the committee that the county is working closely with FEMA regional and headquarters staff and with the county’s congressional delegation to help clear roadblocks. “We are right on the cusp of getting a significant amount of money at this point,” the official said, urging continued follow‑up with federal and state partners.

The joint committees recommended that the matter be reported to the full council without objection. The official and committee members asked to be kept informed as FEMA moves projects through the final reviews and as the state responds to the DHS audit.