Mobile County’s Emergency Management Agency faces a repayment deadline of more than $700,000 after failing for years to break ground on a federally funded emergency operations center, a situation the state’s top law enforcement official says has been building for some time.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which is responsible for enforcing the terms of federal homeland security grants, said Mobile County Emergency Management owed $711,891.13 under the terms of a FEMA grant originally awarded in 2010 to build a new emergency operations center. The grant carried a three-year performance cycle, but the county missed its original deadlines and was granted two one-year extensions, yet still had not broken ground on the project years later.
ALEA’s secretary said representatives from the agency’s Homeland Security division had repeatedly warned Mobile County officials about the grant’s status in the years leading up to the deadline, providing correspondence dating back roughly five years, including the county’s original grant application, which had targeted a completion date in the fall of 2013. Despite those warnings, the secretary said, the county made little tangible progress on the project.
A Mobile County commissioner told fellow officials at a recent Emergency Management meeting that the county was not rushing to repay the debt, saying local officials viewed avoiding losing the grant altogether as the best-case outcome. Under the grant’s terms, Mobile County will remain ineligible for future homeland security funding, including grants for firefighting equipment and SWAT team resources, until the debt is repaid, though disaster relief funding tied to events like hurricanes would not be affected.
In addition to the principal amount owed, the grant carries a 6 percent interest rate that could compound annually, adding further pressure on county finances. County officials reached out to state legislators earlier this year requesting intervention and a 36-month extension, though the state’s homeland security adviser said he had never seen an extension granted over such a long timeframe and indicated that resolving the matter would likely require action at the congressional level rather than the state level.
Alabama’s congressional delegation, including members representing the Mobile area, has been in contact with FEMA regarding the county’s request, though no formal repayment schedule or extension had been announced as the deadline approached. County officials say they continue to work toward a resolution that would preserve the county’s access to future homeland security and emergency preparedness funding.