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EMA warns commissioners fuel and utility pressures could lift next year’s budget
Summary
Emergency Management said fuel and utility costs plus an office relocation require a modest budget increase for 2027; director also described recent grants supporting equipment and hazard planning.
Howard County’s Emergency Management director reported that fuel and utility costs — and an office move to the Berkeley complex after flooding at the Jeff Stout Building — are pushing the department to request about $9,000 extra in next year’s budget to cover gas and utilities. “We moved our, from the Jeff Stout Building out to our Berkeley complex, due to flooding issues,” the director said, adding that expanded office use raised utility bills.
The director described grant support that reduces the county share: a $7,000 donation from the Duke Energy Foundation to buy stop‑the‑bleed kits and other supplies, a $12,700 commodity‑flow grant, and a FEMA‑mandated multi‑hazard mitigation plan budgeted at $24,304. She said the LEPC planning budget otherwise remains largely unchanged and that overtime and hazmat supplies will be held at existing levels. Commissioners questioned whether the Berkeley move was permanent and asked staff to outline long‑term facilities implications before final appropriations.
Provenance: topic introduced SEG 396; topic last discussed SEG 625.
