Fort Lauderdale eyeing own emergency reserve in case FEMA goes away

Talk in Washington of overhauling the Federal Emergency Management Agency — and possibly eliminating it altogether — has set off alarm bells within Fort Lauderdale City Hall.

Some, including Mayor Dean Trantalis, worry the country’s disaster relief agency won’t be there the next time a hurricane or flood hits.

In early June, President Donald Trump said he plans to phase out FEMA after this year’s hurricane season, in keeping with his plans to dismantle the agency and shift responsibility for response and recovery onto states.

“We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it down to the state level,” Trump told reporters during a briefing in the Oval Office. He later added, “A governor should be able to handle it, and frankly, if they can’t handle it, the aftermath, then maybe they shouldn’t be governor.”

-0In response, Fort Lauderdale is now looking at creating a special emergency management reserve.

Under the plan, the city would dedicate an initial $4.8 million to the emergency fund using money recently won in a water contamination lawsuit.

00:00Vice Mayor John Herbst torpedoed the plan, saying the city has already set aside more than $100 million in rainy day reserves, equivalent to one-fourth of the city’s $450 million operating budget.

“I’m strongly opposed to this,” Herbst said. “The whole point of our rather excessive 25% (rainy day) fund balance is for those unanticipated, unforeseen emergencies. We don’t need a reserve on top of reserve. As far as I’m concerned, we have overtaxed our residents as it is. We’ve taken money out of the taxpayers’ pockets and we’ve put it into our savings account.”

Federal support uncertain

One of the city’s budget experts presented the plan to the commission during a recent commission workshop with the budget advisory board.

“What we’re seeing across the country is increasing volatility associated with the effects of weather-related events,” Yvette Matthews, assistant director of the city’s Office of Management and Budget, told the commission. “The idea here is to create an emergency reserve so that we have funds ready to use related to those critical weather-related events.”

When a hurricane or flood strikes, the city normally dips into its rainy day fund to cover the costs of cleanup and later gets reimbursed by FEMA, Trantalis noted.

“We may not have that luxury going forward — that’s what you’re telling us today?” he asked.

“Exactly,” Matthews said. “We’re not sure what that’s going to look like. Things are changing day by day. We just want to make sure we’re prepared for whatever it looks like. Understanding the changes in what the federal support may look like, we just want to make sure that we’re prepared to respond to whatever may come.”

‘I think this is outrageous’

Herbst, a certified public accountant, argued that setting up a separate emergency reserve fund would be a step in the wrong direction.

The Government Finance Officers Association recommends that local governments maintain reserves equal to two months of operating revenue — the equivalent of 16.7% of annual revenue.

Herbst reminded the room of that fact.

“Now we’re at 25%,” he said. “Now we’re going to be roughly at 30%. When does it end? I think this is outrageous. We do not need to be setting aside additional funds.”

Trantalis fired back with a series of questions for Herbst.

“What would be your answer if, God forbid, a hurricane should come through our city and cause significant damage? FEMA is eliminated. What is your solution? What are you going to tell the people? Do a special assessment on everybody’s house in order to pay for this?”

Herbst stood his ground.

“I’m pretty sure out of the $100 million we’ve got in reserves, we can handle $3 million of costs, mayor,” he said.

Fort Lauderdale spent $3.6 million on cleanup after Hurricane Irma made landfall in Marco Island on Florida’s west coast in 2017 and was later reimbursed by FEMA. Irma did not make a direct landfall on the East Coast, but Broward County was on the “dirty” side of the storm, which tends to produce greater wind speed. Coastal Broward had sustained winds of 65 to 70 mph during Irma.

“We have to be self-sufficient’

Trantalis had this response for Herbst: “Well let me tell you this. When we had the flood in April of 2023, we received about $33 million from FEMA. Now that’s not going to be available.”

Herbst argued it would.

“I think that’s absolutely uncalled for to think that FEMA is not going to be there for anybody ever in case of a national disaster,” he said.

Trantalis fired back: “In the House bill it’s been defunded completely.”

Herbst argued on.

“I still think it’s financially irresponsible (to set up an emergency management reserve) and I want to be on the record as having said that.”

Commissioner Steve Glassman chimed in.

“Well I think it’s financially irresponsible not to do it,” Glassman said. “I’m not having a lot of confidence in federal programs. I’m not even having a lot of confidence in state programs. I think we have to be really, really self-sufficient. I would much rather see us be a little bit overprepared.”

Bill Brown, chair of Fort Lauderdale’s budget advisory board, warned that the federal government has made it clear it plans to turn disaster response over to the state and local governments.

“We’re going to have to step up to the plate if we have a disaster,” said Brown, a former fire chief who is part of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue support team.

“They’re in the process of eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Brown said. “No one knows how that’s going to reshape. The president did say that during this hurricane season the response will stay the same, but there’s still a lot of unknowns. From every indication I’m seeing, FEMA will be rebranded under a different organization and the elimination will occur.”

Brown had one last warning: “If we get a major hurricane, $4.8 million is not going to go very far.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan

Originally Published: June 21, 2025 at 7:45 AM EDT