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Fire department budget requests refill of inspector position, prepares for regional dispatch and SCBA/radio replacement
Summary
The Fire Department presented a status‑quo recommended budget for FY 2026 that requests refilling an Inspector 3 position in fire prevention, anticipates migration to regional dispatch in May, budgets for SCBA and portable radio replacement in FY26–27, and reports overtime and mutual‑aid reimbursement levels.
Fire Chief Chris Nails (as recorded) and Business Manager Amy Vanetta presented the Santa Barbara Fire Department’s FY 2026 recommended budget and described several near‑term operational priorities.
The department is authorized for 105 full‑time equivalents and reported a total FY 2026 budget of about $45.4 million, of which roughly $40.2 million is general fund. Chief Nails said the presentation is largely status‑quo and highlighted a request to refill an Inspector 3 (captain‑level) position in the fire prevention bureau that has been held vacant for two budget cycles.
Major initiatives described include staged implementation of the recently completed standards of cover study (a multi‑hundred‑page operational analysis), succession planning, and a fleet evaluation amid steep apparatus cost increases. Chief Nails and staff noted that fleet and equipment costs have risen substantially; apparatus prices cited in the presentation have increased from historic levels to roughly double over the last decade.
Measure I was described by finance staff as funding 19 firefighter positions in the recommended plan. On capital and equipment, the department said Measure C will support equipment replacement and called out the need to replace all portable radios and self‑contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs) in FY 2026–27 because those items reach end‑of‑service life after about 15 years.
Staff said regional dispatch will go live for the fire service on May 14 (moving dispatch responsibility from the City’s police communications center to a regional fire center), which they expect will improve closest‑unit response across jurisdictions. The department also said it had restructured how an hourly fuels crew is funded: a previous Coastal Conservancy grant is ending and a new Cal Fire grant awarded through Parks and Recreation will fund the crew instead; the city will supply the personnel while the grant funding will be administered by Parks and Recreation.
On overtime, staff said the department budgets about $5 million for overtime and that more than $1 million of the current year’s overtime spending is mutual‑aid reimbursable, which the city receives when firefighters respond to out‑of‑jurisdiction incidents. The department described constant‑staffing practices (filling vacancies with overtime rather than running apparatus short) and said training overtime was reinstated for FY 2026 after prior reductions.
Chief Nails said the department will seek City Council approval to refill the Inspector 3 position through an open recruitment and noted additional one‑time needs tied to construction of a new facility and equipment purchases; staff explained recent lease‑purchase agreements for apparatus and that one ladder truck is expected to arrive in June.
Ending: The Fire Department’s recommended FY 2026 budget, inspector position refill request, SCBA and radio replacement schedule, and readiness for regional dispatch proceed to City Council as part of the citywide budget hearings.
