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Fire district adopts FY 2025–26 budget after relabeling 'unallocated' funds as Fire Services Fund
Summary
The Fire Protection District board for the City of Big Bear Lake adopted the FY 2025–26 budget, adding a change to relabel a budget line from 'unallocated' to 'Fire Services Fund' and affirming the need for clearer allocation; public commenters asked for transparency on how taxpayer dollars will be used.
The Fire Protection District board for the City of Big Bear Lake voted unanimously to adopt the fiscal year 2025–26 budget after agreeing to relabel a line item listed as "unallocated" to a designated "Fire Services Fund." The motion to adopt the budget with that single amendment passed on a roll-call vote with all five members voting aye.
Board Chair Herrick opened the public hearing on Item 2.1, the FY 2025–26 budget, and an unidentified presenter cited a total figure of $7,140,000.00 for consideration. During the public comment period, resident Bridal Parham said taxpayers deserve clarity on how fire-district funds are spent, asking, “As a taxpayer, I want to know what do we do with the money? ... If anything, as long as you can outline the purpose of that funds, where it's gonna go, what its purpose is, then I'll be getting that.”
Board member Randy said the budget work has been ongoing for months and reminded the board that, under the joint-powers agreement (JPA), the fire protection district and the CSD are expected to fund services 50/50. “We approved funding our half of the approved budget,” Randy said, adding that CSD had moved to reduce its proposed funding share but that the motion to cut that amount was not successful.
A board or staff speaker clarified the district’s fiscal rules, noting that "the Fire Protection District is a separate agency from the City of Big Bear Lake," and that district dollars remain in the fire-protection enterprise fund and may be spent only on fire-related expenditures. That clarification was cited by members as a reason to replace the vague label "unallocated" with a clearly named account.
Chair Herrick moved to adopt the budget with the amendment to change the term "unallocated" to "Fire Services Fund," the motion was seconded by Carrie, and a roll-call vote recorded affirmative votes from Board member Putz, Board member Segovia, Vice Chair Hicks, Board member Melnick and Chair Herrick.
The board adjourned the meeting at 4:19 p.m. after the vote. No further actions were taken at the meeting, and staff reported that no reportable action resulted from the earlier closed-session litigation discussion.
