DPS seeks general-fund support for two shortfalls; officials explain causes and line items

Department of Public Safety officials told the Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee on Jan. 30 that they will request a budget adjustment to cover projected shortfalls in two funding streams: the federally approved indirect cost (interdepartmental transfer) recovery and the criminal history record check fund.

Rick Hallenbeck, director of administration, said the department projects a $1,100,000 shortfall in interdepartmental transfer revenue and a further shortfall tied to the criminal history record check fund (the $30 fee for Vermont criminal conviction reports). The two shortfalls together are driving a general-fund BAA (budget adjustment) request. Hallenbeck said the committee was asked to review two appropriation documents (B208 and B210) and that the general-fund subtotal in administration was roughly $1.9 million while the criminal-justice-services increases totaled about $343,000; the combined general-fund BAA is approximately $2.17 million, subject to final accounting.

Officials outlined several specific line items the BAA would support: $75,000 in contractual funding to maintain a legacy CAT RMS system with historical law-enforcement data; an established contract amount of $702,000 for the Crosswind/Valcore CAD-RMS system; and a series of operating internal-service fees that will be shifted from special funds to general funds to address the shortfalls. Hallenbeck said the criminal history record check fund’s revenue rose until 2019, dipped during the COVID period, rebounded in 2021–22, and then declined in 2023–24; that pattern is the basis for the current projection that an additional general-fund plug is required.

The administration explained that an agency-wide federally approved indirect cost rate has varied over time (Hallenbeck cited recent rates in the 15–25% range) and that revenue from that rate depends on the types of grants and how subgrants are structured — for example, indirect recovery can only be applied to the first $25,000 of certain subgrant expenditures, limiting recoverable overhead on some large pass-through grants.

Committee members asked about the Valcore/Crosswind system and whether earlier rollout problems persist. Commissioner Morrison said Valcore is broadly used across agencies for records management and provides statewide information-sharing benefits; she noted it was not designed as a CAD system for fire and EMS dispatchers, and the Public Safety Communications Task Force will examine future options. On request for more detailed cost breakdowns and the total BAA figure, Hallenbeck said staff would provide exact totals and supporting documentation to the committee for the memo to appropriations.

No formal committee action was taken in the briefing; staff said they would return or provide materials to finalize the BAA memo for appropriations.