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St. Mary's Emergency Services submits FY26 budget request including 28 new positions and radio upgrade plan
Summary
St. Mary's County Emergency Services presented its FY26 budget request to the Emergency Services Board, asking for 28 new FTEs, a $2.5 million increase, grant funding carryovers and a three-year radio system plan with potential timing changes if exempt financing is available.
St. Mary's County Director of Emergency Services Jennifer Utz presented the department's FY26 budget submission to the Emergency Services Board, asking the county to fund 28 new full-time equivalent positions and noting a proposed $2.5 million increase to the division's baseline request.
Utz said the 28 positions include two additional medical duty officers (bringing staffing to two MDOs per shift across four shifts), eight paramedics intended to staff paramedic ambulances, 10 full-time EMTs, one administrative coordinator and one behavioral enrichment coordinator at the animal shelter, four call takers for the 9‑1‑1 communications center, one personnel coordinator, and one grant-funded emergency planner. She said some animal-shelter roles were previously grant-funded and are being proposed as county-funded positions.
The budget package also includes the department's regular state and federal grant applications. Utz listed grants the department submitted as part of the FY26 package, naming Maryland 911 Board funds, AMOS/508 funds, MPG grant funds, Homeland Security grants, Exelon funding, and a county 50/50 match vehicle (MIMS 50/50) as included sources.
Utz outlined a three-year radio-system proposal covering core system and network upgrades, mobile replacements and phased replacements for county departments and public safety agencies. She said there is a potential option, pending review with the county administrator and CFO, to use exempt financing to replace all fire portables in FY26 while moving EMS portable replacements to FY27 so the county could upgrade entire fleets at once.
She described the FY26 submission as a “robust budget package” but cautioned that federal and state funding uncertainty will affect final decisions by county commissioners.
"There is a lot of uncertainty, as we all know, surrounding the federal government and the budget and the state budget and what that means for the local county governments," Utz said, noting the submission represents the department's assessment of its needs.
The board did not take a formal vote on the budget submission; Utz asked members if they had questions and said staff would work with partners through the county's budget process.
The Emergency Services Board also reviewed equipment requests submitted by volunteer fire and rescue companies as part of the departmental submission.
