(The Center Square) – An assessment of the Seattle Office of Emergency Management recommends closer coordination between Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s office and OEM to better define expectations, outcomes and resource needs.
BERK Consulting presented its assessment of OEM to the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday. The firm was contracted in 2025 in response to a statement of legislative intent and interest from former Mayor Bruce Harrell.
One key takeaway from the assessment is that Seattle’s OEM receives less funding than comparable cities, although differences in departmental structure complicate direct comparisons.
Seattle’s OEM budget for 2024 was $2.92 million.
The data assessment was based off of 2024 figures.
San Francisco’s emergency management office had a 2024 budget of $140.83 million. However, BERK Consulting Engagement Analyst Oliver Hirn noted the city’s 911 Call Center and emergency medical services are housed within the department, accounting for the significantly higher total.
Other peer cities, including Denver and Portland, funded their emergency management departments at $9.26 million and $9.57 million, respectively, in 2024.
Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka questioned the usefulness of the peer city comparison from a policymaking perspective.
“Every department would say that they need more resources,” Saka said, asking what, specifically, additional funding for OEM would support.
BERK Consulting Project Manager Brian Murphy said it is not the firm’s role to prescribe how additional resources should be allocated. Instead, he recommended that the mayor’s office and OEM jointly define expectations, desired outcomes and the resources required to meet them.
Murphy suggested the two offices meet at least twice a year to review performance from the prior year and establish priorities for the year ahead.
OEM was moved out of the Seattle Police Department and established as a standalone office reporting directly to the mayor in 2021. According to Murphy, the restructuring was in response to the death of George Floyd and the protests that followed, aligning Seattle with the more common practice of maintaining an independent emergency management function.
OEM is responsible for preparing the city for disasters and mitigating risks to residents.
“[OEM] is looking at things like an earthquake, but also terrorism. They’re also looking at climate change or cyber attacks, but they’re really doing that in collaboration with other city departments,” Murphy explained to the committee.
Like its counterparts in peer cities, OEM does not have authority to allocate resources, meaning it can request support from other departments during emergencies but cannot direct them.
Murphy said recent budget cuts have reduced OEM’s capacity, particularly for staff training and community engagement.
Seattle, like many other cities, relies heavily on federal funding for disaster planning and mitigation. However, federal grants that were routinely renewed now have conditions applied like a city having to accept and comply with any and all executive orders issued by President Donald Trump.
Councilmember Bob Kettle said that prior to the Trump administration, OEM generated more revenue for the city than it spent, largely through successful grant writing.
“They definitely paid their way in terms of the budget if you just look at money coming in and what was spent on OEM – there’s no other equivalent I don’t think,” Kettle said.
