South Carolina Emergency Management Division

  Introduction 

The South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD) is guided by its mission of developing, coordinating and leading the state emergency management program. SCEMD has a general budget of $1,053.000.00 (SCRFA, n.d.). SCEMD has to budget for the finance to put in place the necessary measures to prevent, mitigate, and recover from a disaster. The South Carolina Emergency Management Department succession of authority begins with the Director: Kim Stenson, the Chief of Staff: Steven Batson, Chief of Operations: Chief of Preparedness: Scott Brown, and Finance and Administration: Cynthia Smith. Other departments within the division include; legal, public information, operations, operations support, and recovery and mitigation (SCEMD, n.d.). The finance department is in charge of the budgeting, but other departments are also involved. 

1) Analyze the Budget Process 

SCEMD is a state agency; hence, its budget process is guided by a state of rules. Cynthia Smith is the chief of the finance and administration services department, and she is in charge of the budgeting process. Smith works with three other accounting/ fiscal analysts to draft the budget. The draft budget is made up of projected expenses broken into different categories including salaries, office expenses, and fixed costs. In most budget drafts, the projected expenses are usually contrasted with the expected income. SCEMD relies on the government for all of its budgets. 

From SCEMD’s organizational structure, there are seven departments at SCEMD including legal, public information, plans, logistics, operation, finance and administration, and recovery and mitigation (SCEMD). The needs of each department are taken into consideration in the budget drafting process. Each department submits information about their expenses and plans for the next fiscal year for review. The chief of finance goes through the requests with the director, the chief of staff and other executives to determine the necessities and priorities that will be included in the budget. Not all requests are included in the budget drafts unless they are critical to disaster management. The executives are involved in drafting the budget as per the projected expenditure, new projects, and organizational goals. Nonetheless, there are priority activities and departments at SCEMD such as recovery and mitigation whose operations are prioritized because the department is directly related to the purpose of SCEMD. 

Forecasting is used to analyze current and future fiscal conditions to guide the decision makers in drafting the budgeting. A financial forecast presents estimated information after taking into consideration the past, current, and projected financial conditions for SCEMD. The forecast helps in identifying future expenditure based on government policies, strategic goals, and community needs. The forecast is a part of the annual budget process at SCEMD as an effective projection leads to fiscal discipline. 

The Federal government provided 52% of SCEMD’s budget in 2017 while the state government was responsible for 27% and the private sector (Fixed Nuclear Facilities) contributed 21% of the budget (Executive Budget Office, 2018). The budget allocation from the federal government is under the Federal Emergency Preparedness program Grants. The office of the Adjutant General oversees the budget process as SCEMD is part of the Office of the Adjutant General. In the 2018-19 budget plan for the agency, the Adjutant General justified the budget requests by stating that the annual Federal Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) has reduced in the last few years. The state government has a responsibility to increase budgetary allocation to SCEMD to enable the agency to implement its programs. SCEMD also relies on donations, particularly when disaster strikes. Thousand Year Fire and Hurricane Matthew affected South Carolinians; many people donated to help them. SCEMD created the One SC Fund to help the victims with food, shelter, basic needs, and recovery after the disaster. 

The budget cycle is aligned with the budget cycle for the office of the Adjutant General. Once the governor sends budget instructions to state agencies between July and August for the new fiscal year, the chief of finance begins making the draft (Executive Budget Office, 2018). The draft is based on the budgets submitted by the different department heads within SCEMD. Once the draft is complete, the chief of finance and administration presents it to the office of the Adjutant General. The office of the Adjutant General submits the budget to the governor in September (Office of the Adjutant General, 2012). Budget hearings take place between September and October. The governor presents the budget to the house in January for analysis and debate. A committee involving members of the House and Senate go through the budget to reconcile the differences. Lastly, the House must pass the budget on a simple majority before July 1, which is the beginning of the fiscal year for state agencies. 

2) Analyze how community needs are prioritized. 

SCEMD uses the budget process to prioritize community needs. The 2018-19 agency budget plan for the office of the Adjutant General states that the cost of sustaining State Emergency Management Program has increased with the recent emergencies/ disasters. The funding is used to train, exercise, and develop state emergency plans (South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2018). SCEMD professionals evaluate the risk of all kinds of disasters, including hurricane, tornadoes, fires, terrorism, and extreme heat among others. SCEMD analyzes the community risk and prepares for all the disasters after the risk analysis (SCEMD, 2018). 

SCEMD partners with the Governor’s office, FEMA, DHS, National Guard and the State of SC to analyze and prioritize community needs. They share information regarding community needs and public opinion of disaster preparedness and management with SCEMD so that the agency plans for all community needs. SCEMD works with different agencies so that it can integrate all community needs and take advantage of the partnerships to create a resilient disaster management plan. 

Additionally, SCEMD uses its budgetary allocations to prepare for disasters through training, disaster management plans, recovery centers, and other activities to improve community resilience. One way in which SCEMD prioritizes community needs is through the volunteer program. SCEMD trains volunteer from the community to help first responders in case of a disaster. There are volunteer networks in South Carolina maintained by the United Way Association. SCEMD works with volunteers during and after the disaster to help in community recovery. 

3) Analyze the processes used to monitor and evaluate the agency budget. 

South Carolina Legislature is the body that monitors and evaluates the state budget, including the agency budget. SCEMD is a crucial part of the Office of the Adjutant General responsible for emergency management. When the office of the Adjutant General submitted the budget in September, the budget was subject to evaluation by the South Carolina Legislature. The executive subcommittee discusses all the organizational units that are part of the Office of the Adjutant General. 

SCEMD has monitoring and evaluation structures in place to help it utilize the budget well. The Chief of Finance and Administration is responsible for monitoring and evaluation through regular audits of departmental spending. The finance department keeps records of every training activity, purchases, and recurrent expenses at SCEMD to account for the budget. The 2017-18 Appropriations Act, Part 1B requires SCEMD to give a consolidated report on the status of expenditure of funds (South Carolina State House, 2017). 

Additionally, the Office of the Adjutant General also monitors and evaluates SCEMD’s budget to ensure that the agency uses the resources efficiently to improve the state’s disaster preparedness. The Office of the Adjutant General is required to submit a program evaluation report (PER) to the Executive Subcommittee (Executive Subcommittee Report, 2017). 

4) Are there social or economic factors that may affect revenue streams? 

SCEMD relies on the federal, state, and donors for its budgetary needs as it does not generate revenue. SCEMD budget over the years changes according to the social and economic factors. The primary source of revenue for the state government is business and income taxes, and during economic downturns, state taxes are affected negatively. Economic problems such as depression affect both federal and state revenues negatively, hence the federal spending on local government agencies such as SCEMD will reduce. SCEMD budget is subject to economic conditions such that when the economy is performing well, the agency is more likely to receive more revenue than when the economy is not doing well. 

Alternatively, social factors also affect the state’s revenue streams. A significant portion of state revenue goes to the provision of social services include education, healthcare, social services, and welfare, and this affects the budgets for other agencies. As the population increases, the government and government agencies have to plan well for their budgets to meet the rising social needs. The public is continually demanding better social services from the government because the public is the source of government revenue through taxation. The state prioritizes social services such as health and education, such that emergency preparedness agency is not prioritized. 

5) Analyze political processes that may underlie the budget process. 

Political processes also affect the budget process. The governor is in charge of the budgeting process while the legislators are the ones who approve the budget through a simple majority. Politicians have their own interests that are determined by the needs of the constituents, party affiliations, and ideologies. For example, Republicans often argue for reduced social spending while Democrats argue for increased social spending. Politics affect the budgeting process and the performance of government agencies including SCEMD. Politicians can argue that there are urgent priorities that need to be addressed rather than assigning money to SCEMD when South Carolina is not prone to severe disasters. Additionally, politicians use the program evaluation report (PER) for the agency to determine whether the agency is putting the funds into good use or not, and this will affect their decision to approve the agency’s budget. 

In conclusion, the budgeting process for SCEMD is lengthy as it is a state agency. SCEMD relies on federal, state, and private funds to support its operations. One of the biggest challenges facing SCEMD is inadequate funding to finance all disaster preparedness programs. The department has to utilize the available funds effectively by monitoring and evaluating its spending to encourage the state government to increase the agency’s budgetary allocation. 

References 

Executive Budget Office. (2018). Current Budget Plans- Office of the Adjutant General . Retrieved from: https://www.admin.sc.gov/files/E240%20-%20Adjutant%20General.pdf 

Office of the Adjutant General. (2012). Annual Accountability Report . Retrieved from: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/Archives/aar2012/E24.pdf 

South Carolina Emergency Management Division. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.scemd.org 

South Carolina Emergency Management Division. (2018a). Emergency Operations Plan. Retrieved 10 Nov. 2018 from http://www.scemd.org/em-rofessionals/plans/emergency- operations-plan/ 

South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. (n.d.). Budget Development . Retrieved from https://www.rfa.sc.gov/files/FY%202018-19%20Budget%20Request%20Summary.pdf 

South Carolina State House. (2017). Executive Subcommittee Meeting - Monday, November 20, 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/CommitteeInfo/HouseLegislativeOversightCommittee/Age ncyWebpages/AdjutantGeneral/November%2020,%202017%20- %20Meeting%20Packet.pdf