Montgomery County Maryland Operating Budget

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Program Description

Office of the Fire Chief

The Office of the Fire Chief (OFC) has the ultimate responsibility for the overall management, direction, planning, and coordination of all MCFRS programs and operations. The OFC manages the overall service needs and delivery requirements of MCFRS, including fire and rescue master planning and resource deployment plans; oversees community risk reduction programs and community outreach; develops and recommends capital improvement projects; manages and integrates information technology into the MCFRS' business processes; and recommends policy initiatives and programs to the County Executive.

The Office of the Fire Chief includes the Internal Affairs Section, Community Risk Reduction Section, the Planning Section, and the Public Information Office.

The Internal Affairs Section investigates complaints and serious violations of the personnel regulations and department policy and conducts procedural background investigations of applicants for firefighter/rescuer positions.

The Community Risk Reduction Section identifies and mitigates certain risks to the community in an effort to reduce the number of 911 calls. Initiatives include smoke alarm distribution, home safety visits for seniors, child safety seat installation and bicycle safety education.

The Planning Section is primarily responsible for the development of the Fire, Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, and Community Risk Reduction Master Plan and oversees the department's accreditation program. Among the tasks assigned to this office are the analyses of risk and historical emergency incident activity; monitoring development and growth to project strategic resource needs, facility placement, special operational requirements, and future workforce levels; performance measurement; and geographical incident data analyses and technical support.

The Public Information Office facilitates media relations, messages, and imaging/brand management and is responsible for disseminating information to the public on departmental programs and services; conducting outreach and fire safety education; and ensuring high quality customer service.

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Fire and Rescue Service

Program Contacts

Contact Dominic Del Pozzo of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service at 240.777.2236 or Willie Morales of the Office of Management and Budget at 240.777.2758 for more information regarding this department's operating budget.

Program Performance Measures

Program Performance Measures	Actual FY22	Actual FY23	Estimated FY24	Target FY25	Target FY26
Number of engagement hours ¹	N/A	4,739	6,500	7,000	7,500
Number of home safety checks	212	382	425	468	514
Median number of days to complete non-criminal or traffic-related Internal Affairs investigations.	57	54	42	42	42
Percent of 2023 Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) recommendations implemented for the FY23-FY28 accreditation cycle ²	86.7%	18.8%	37.5%	62.5%	75.0%

¹ This measure was added in FY23.
² The "decline" in the measurement between FY22 and FY23 is the result of completing the 2018 recommendations and undergoing an onsite peer assessment in May 2023. During this process, the peer team issued 16 new recommendations to MCFRS.

Program Budget Changes

FY25 Approved Changes	Expenditures	FTEs
FY24 Approved	3838774	19.00
Multi-program adjustments, including negotiated compensation changes, employee benefit changes, changes due to staff turnover, reorganizations, and other budget changes affecting multiple programs.	572863	2.00
FY25 Approved	4411637	21.00