A year after Lincoln County received $48,000 from the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the oldest county in Maine will again take advantage of the homeland security grant.

Tod Hartung, Lincoln County EMA director, spoke Tuesday at the Lincoln County Commissioners meeting about where the money went last year and how much is coming in the year ahead.

Lincoln County can expect up to $62,000 this year to go toward special systems or projects for first responders.

Hartung said a committee made up of law enforcement, EMT and fire department officials gathered last year to decide what to do with the money. This year, he said he expects to do much the same.

At least 25 percent of the money needs to go towards law enforcement, and must be approved by MEMA.

Last year, $29,000 of the $48,000 went towards law enforcement in the form of two additions.

One addition was the automatic vehicle locator, which is software that can locate and track where Sheriffs' cars are in the county.

The other was a system that allows officers to pull up personal information in the car.

“The system allows officers to retrieve and share info with other law enforcement agencies in the state,” Hartung said. “These were worthwhile expenditures.”

The money comes originally from FEMA before it makes its way to MEMA. It's then divvied up among Maine's counties based on population.

Hartung said some counties then divide that money up between the towns, which can cause problems.

“You wind up with towns that get $3,000-$4,000 and that doesn't accomplish much,” he said.

Once a plan is submitted, the county must stick to it, Hartung said.

“There's an application process, and you have to tell them what you intend to use the money for,” he said. “You can't deviate from that.”

Ben Bulkeley can be reached at 207-633-4620 or bbulkeley@boothbayregister.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BBRegisterBen.