A legislative audit released Thursday found that the Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM) potentially cost the state more than $300 million in federal COVID-19-related funds and failed to account for over $23 million in loans to volunteer fire companies.
In MDEM’s first audit since being established in 2021, the Maryland Office of Legislative Audits (OLA) determined that in several instances, the department spent more than $1.13 billion between 2022 and 2024 on COVID-related grants, making up most of its funding for public assistance.
While the department was able to request federal reimbursements for much of this spending, it failed to do so on a quarterly basis, which lost the state an estimated $19.2 million.
MDEM also reported receiving $882 million in federal funds, but upon further analysis, it received only about $560 million. There is a chance that the federal government will still fulfill the full requested amount, but if it does not, Maryland taxpayers might be on the hook to cover the $300 million shortfall.
The audit’s final reported finding was that MDEM has 62 active loans under its Volunteer Company Assistance Fund (VCAF), with a combined outstanding balance of over $23 million.
These loans, intended to help volunteer fire companies purchase and improve equipment, are all overseen by a single MDEM employee, which the audit says leaves the department susceptible to delinquent loan payments. During the audit, OLA identified over $540,000 worth of late VCAF payments.
“MDEM has implemented control processes and made progress in areas described in this report, including filling key vacancies that may have contributed to the findings,” wrote Maryland Secretary of Emergency Management Russell Strickland in his response to the audit.
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