Matt McBride, White County Emergency Management (OEM) director, presented capital and operating requests for fiscal year 2026 for OEM, fire and rescue. Key requests included increased supplies (oil‑dry and bottled water pallets for staged response), maintenance and lights/siren work on OEM vehicles, replacement handheld radios and caches for mutual‑aid events, and a six‑passenger side‑by‑side off‑road vehicle to support responses in park and remote areas. McBride proposed increasing certain OEM and fire equipment budgets to preserve purchasing power amid rising costs.

On the fire/rescue side, McBride and commissioners discussed raising the county contribution for department equipment. The committee discussed a proposed increase of $45,000 intended to provide additional department purchasing power for turnout gear, bottles and other critical items; officials noted equipment prices have risen 10–25% in recent months and that bulk purchasing can lower unit prices. The committee also discussed adding funds for OSHA fit testing and annual SCBA (flow) testing to ensure compliance with safety and ISO requirements.

Capital requests included a roof replacement and restroom repairs at a county‑owned station on Sullivan Knowles Road, plus maintenance at a station housed on school district property. Committee members asked for cost estimates and noted some projects may need to follow procurement and county facilities workflows. No final budget decisions were made on these requests at the meeting; committee members asked staff to include the proposals in the FY26 packet and to schedule a follow‑up special meeting to refine priorities and tax‑rate implications.