Frozen FEMA grants could impact Boone County funding

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County's auditor is still looking into how a freeze on three federal FEMA grants could affect county finances.

The Missouri Department of Public Safety notified the county on Friday that three grants - the Homeland Security Grant Program, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program - were temporarily suspended by FEMA. The notice went to all agencies that received money from the grant programs.

Just received word that FEMA has temporarily suspended grant funding. Don’t know how long funds will be suspended or if the funds will disappear completely. This will have a big impact on local emergency management agencies across the state, esp those in smaller counties.

— Kip Kendrick (@Kip_Kendrick) April 4, 2025

Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick wrote on his X page that it's not clear how long funds would be frozen.

DPS spokesman Mike O'Connell said the state serves as an administrator for the federal grants. Local agencies, like county government, spend money and get reimbursed by the state using federal grant money. A FEMA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Boone County Auditor Kyle Rieman told ABC 17 News his office was still trying to figure out the impact this freeze would have on the county. It's unclear if the county receives money from just one of the programs or all of them.

FEMA described the $1 billion Homeland Security Grant Program as "a suite of risk-based grants to assist state, local, tribal and territorial efforts in preventing, protecting against, mitigating, responding to and recovering from acts of terrorism and other threats."

The Nonprofit Security grant "provides funding support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack."

The grant's website shows it had $210 million in the program for fiscal year 2024. The cybersecurity grant program "provides funding to eligible entities to address cybersecurity risks and threats to information systems," with $279 million available.