Office of Response, Recovery, and Resilience
Overview
Mission Statement
To build the County's resilience for future disasters, to serve as the emergency management office for responding to ongoing disasters, and to coordinate recovery efforts for disasters that have occurred.
Department Overview
To improve our community’s emergency response, elevate our disaster awareness and prepare for increases in extreme weather due to climate change, the Board of Supervisors created the Office of Response, Recovery & Resilience (OR3) in December 2020. OR3 goes beyond traditional emergency operations to create a full-service division to help our community prepare for disasters, respond during emergencies and assist with recovery. The department supports equity and climate action objectives through improved community outreach to under-resourced areas, improved emergency notification during disasters, new partnerships with libraries and non-governmental organizations to support the community during disasters and for community resilience centers in disadvantaged communities, and the pursuit of grant funding to address climate change.
Budget Summary
Department Budget Overview
Budget Summary of Changes
The OR3 budget recommends status quo staffing. Expenses reflect scheduled and negotiated salary and benefit increase offset by reductions in professional service contracts. Reductions in revenues primarily reflect completed grants.
Adopted Budget Summary of Changes
The Adopted Budget adds $7,382,672 in expenditures and $6,788,396 in revenues. The changes are from $6,788,396 in 2023-24 revenue agreements and $6,791,640 in related appropriations that continue into 2024-25. They also include $591,032 in 2023-24 unspent contract expenditures that continue into 2024-25.
District Sales Tax Contribution
The District Sales Tax contribution of $600,000 is helping to fund a countywide alert and warning platform called CruzAware, which includes Santa Cruz Regional 911 services. It also helps fund OR3’s two new Emergency Services Analyst positions to support emergency and disaster preparedness. OR3 is leveraging the District Sales Tax contribution through staff to access grant funding for resilience efforts. To date, OR3 has secured over $20 million in resilience resources for our County. This contribution is part of the existing General Fund contribution to OR3 but is being shown separately beginning in 2024-25.
Open the Services Overview or Operational Plan Objectives below for more details.
Department Operations and Performance
Budget Details
The charts below show department expenditures and revenues by division and service. Click on the pie charts to drill down for more detail. Complete detail can be found on the County's Transparency Portal.
Expenses by Service
Expenses and Revenues over time
Personnel Details
The chart below provides the department personnel detail by division, service, and classification.