Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Oemhs Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee backs moving Everbridge support, approves PATC kit replacement and staffing conversion requests for OEMHS
Summary
The Public Safety Committee recommended reconciling three OEMHS items for FY27 funding: an $800,000 transfer to maintain the Everbridge alert system, $425,000 to refresh county public access trauma care kits, and $93,274 to convert a grant‑funded fiscal/admin role to a permanent 0.78 FTE county position; committee signaled support and requested line‑item detail for the kits.
The Public Safety Committee on April 29 advanced three Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS) budget items for reconciliation, including an $800,000 shift to sustain the county’s Everbridge alert platform. Kristen Cummings, the committee’s legislative analyst, told members the Everbridge grants end June 2026 and “this will necessitate the expenditure to be transferred over.”
Committee members responded strongly to the Everbridge briefing, with Chair Katz and colleagues agreeing it is a life‑safety priority; the body signaled support to put the item on the reconciliation list by a 3–0 vote. Cummings said the Everbridge allocation supports Alert Montgomery and countywide internal contact databases and called it “a top operational need.”
Cummings also presented a $425,000 request to replace expiring public access trauma care (PATC) kits and related emergency supplies for government facilities. She said the county manages 209 PATC kits in government buildings (school kits are funded through MCPS) and that the proposal would replace 601 deployed kits and expand coverage to 12 additional facilities to reach 618 total. “These kits need to be replaced approximately every five years,” Cummings said.
Members asked for a clearer breakdown of the $425,000 line item. Director Luke Hodgson told the committee that roughly $63,000 of the request is for PPE/uniforms and about $387,000 is for PATC kits; installation for new cabinets is approximately $100 per site. Hodgson offered to provide a facility‑level list of buildings currently lacking kits and an itemized spend plan before full council consideration.
The third OEMHS reconciliation item would convert a 0.78 FTE fiscal and administrative specialist from grant support to a permanent county position at $93,274, because the grant funding ends June 30. Cummings said the specialist manages accounts payable/receivable, budget reconciliation and HAZMAT program financial administration.
Next steps: staff will provide the requested line‑item breakdowns and a facility list to the committee ahead of the full‑council packet; the committee placed the Everbridge request and the staffing conversion on the reconciliation list for council action.
