Fort Worth’s newly created Emergency Management & Communications Department is expected to operate on a $20.7 million budget, giving the city’s 911 call-taking team its own department and streamlining the city’s emergency response, officials said.
The department will be Fort Worth’s lead for disaster preparedness, hazard mitigation and coordination of response and recovery operations.
The funding isn’t entirely new expenses for the city. It’s mostly being reallocated from other areas that used to house the department’s operations, according to the city’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year.
Fort Worth’s budget isn’t finalized until City Council approves it in a vote expected Sept. 16.
Historically, when someone called 911 in Fort Worth, a public safety communicator from the police department answered.
If the situation needed the fire department or emergency medical services, they transferred the call to the fire department’s fire alarm office.
Each transfer meant a delay in responding to an emergency. This prompted city officials to streamline the process by creating the new department, Aubry Insco, who became the city’s first 911 communications administrator in November, said in a May interview.
Eventually, the Emergency Management & Communications Department will house police, fire and emergency medical services call takers. The three teams moved to the same dispatch system in July.
Where the money goes
About $19.2 million of the new department’s budget will pay for the salaries of 175 employees. The money will be reallocated from the police department, where those positions were previously.
An estimated $870,868 will fund seven new positions that will move emergency management functions to the department, according to the budget book. Six of those are grant-funded.
Another $513,282 will pay for the department’s two administrators’ salaries. Insco and Sonny Saxton, director of emergency communications and management, were previously in the city manager’s office.
One administrative support position will be funded at $85,061. Another $149,352 will go to helping establish the new department.
Total expenses for the new department:
Salary and benefits: $20,268,629
General operation and maintenance: $455,983
The department’s future
The public safety and fire teams will stay separate for at least the next couple of years.
Fort Worth officials have the long-term goal of merging them in the Zipper Building — a city office building in downtown that features a large zipper mural — if voters approve the building’s renovation in the 2026 bond, Fire Chief Jim Davis said during a Public Safety Commission meeting June 10.
The city’s budget plan notes that Fort Worth’s rapid growth — and the higher 911 call volumes it generates — will require more investment in the emergency management infrastructure. The city recently reached 1 million residents, making it the 11th largest in the nation.
“With the rise in extreme weather events, public health crises and large-scale emergencies, Fort Worth must continue to strengthen its emergency management capabilities,” the document reads. “This includes expanded planning, response coordination and community preparedness efforts.”
Emergency management also heavily depends on federal grants, according to the budget proposal, so any changes to those could significantly impact the city’s emergency services or shift costs to the local level.
Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org or @shawlings601.
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