Emergency management requests $6,500 to cover rising phone costs

Steven Sinagra, director of emergency management, asked the board to approve a $6,500 FY26 in‑series transfer to cover telephone costs through the end of the fiscal year. He told the board the department adjusted FY27 budgeting to better reflect higher recurring phone bills and said transfers like this have been necessary in prior years when projections lag actual costs.

Sinagra explained the change was driven by rising monthly service charges and by past budgeting that looked backward at lower historical averages. "They have increased, annually," Sinagra said, and later estimated the department's monthly phone cost as "somewhere around 2,000 a month." A board member asked which line the funds would come from (dues and conferences) and whether training or other services would suffer; Sinagra said mandatory training is maintained while discretionary trainings are curtailed when staff shortages occur. The board approved the transfer by voice vote.