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Polk County emergency management outlines grants, communications upgrades and large ROI from hazard mitigation
Summary
Emergency Management requested a roughly 15% increase driven by personnel and pass‑through hazmat costs, highlighted a $51,000 hazard‑mitigation planning grant that helped unlock $23 million in projects, and described a $5 million CAD‑to‑CAD grant and communications upgrades.
AJ Maugham, director of Polk County Emergency Management, presented the commission’s FY2027 request and outlined several grant‑funded projects and regional partnerships that he said deliver strong returns for local taxpayers.
Maugham said the commission’s proposed budget is about $889,000 for FY2627, with roughly $850,000 in the general supplemental budget and $39,000 expected from the Emergency Management Performance Grant. He noted a $340,000 pass‑through in operations to fund a countywide hazardous‑materials contract with the City of Des Moines.
Highlighting grant outcomes, Maugham said a $51,000 hazard‑mitigation planning grant "has unlocked $23,000,000 in projects" over the last decade and stressed that investing in planning yields long‑term mitigation projects such as storm‑sewer improvements and property acquisitions in flood‑risk areas. He also described communications upgrades: Polk County moved from an older VHF system to a new medical communications system called EyeMed and piloted a text‑alert system tied to the Polk County Sheriff’s communication center.
Maugham reported what he framed as a large return on investment for county emergency management: "Over the last 10 years... $5,200,000 of local taxpayer dollars invested... every single one of those dollars has returned $25, and we've been able to bring back to Polk County over $129,000,000," he said. He described a roughly $5,000,000 CAD‑to‑CAD grant to connect three PSAPs with a hub and noted two planned pilot projects (Altoona–Des Moines and Johnston–Urbandale).
Maugham also outlined training, exercise and resiliency work, including a new resiliency coordinator (Laura Kaser) and tabletop/VR training collaborations with Iowa State University. He flagged the 2027 airshow as an upcoming large event for which Emergency Management will chair safety planning.
Supervisors thanked Emergency Management for regional coordination and noted ongoing legislative bills that could affect PSAP funding; Maugham said the commission will continue to monitor and respond to legislative changes.
