Air District proposes $15.2 million budget, schedules June adoption hearing and a fee increase under Rule 2.10

The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District presented a proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget of $15,200,000 on May 21 and directed staff to schedule a public-adoption hearing for June 25, 2026.

District staff said the year-over-year increase (13.7%) is driven primarily by two items: roughly 31% of the total budget consists of pass-through grant funds the district receives from the state for specific projects, and this fiscal year is a high-year for the district's three-year permit re-evaluation cycle, which increases permit-related workload and costs. After removing pass-through grant dollars, staff said the district's operating budget is approximately $10,400,000. Staffing is unchanged at 34 full-time-equivalent positions.

Tina Aguilar, the district's administrative-division manager, said the district projects a fund balance of about $9.6 million (including encumbered grant funds) and highlighted recent actuarial results showing the district's pension (CERS) is nearly fully funded at roughly 96.4 percent, a factor that reduced retirement-related expenditures this year.

On fees, the board heard staff's plan under Rule 2.10 to move the district toward a cost-recovery target. The district's plan applies a board-directed 12% annual fee increase combined with the April-to-April consumer price index (2.7% for the prior year), producing a proposed 14.7% increase for the coming year. Staff noted that the proposal remains below the 15% ceiling established in the California Health and Safety Code.

The presentation also identified near-term capital and operating investments: about $300,000 budgeted to modernize the district's permit and compliance systems ("IDS 2"), $318,000 of increased fixed-asset spending year-over-year, funds to replace an aging electric-vehicle pool vehicle, and installation of EV chargers at the Santa Maria office. Monitoring-equipment replacements and website accessibility work (to comply with new ADA website requirements) were also listed.

After questions from board members about pension mechanics and the fee proposal's effects on permit-holder margins and potential overlap with federal operations at Vandenberg Space Force Base, the board voted to (1) receive the proposed budget, (2) hold the required public hearing, and (3) schedule a budget-adoption hearing for June 25, 2026. The motion passed by roll call (9 yeas, 0 nays; one director had left the meeting). The clerk noted staff had published the draft budget, issued notices to the 762 permitted facilities in the region, and had received no public comments on the draft to date.

Next steps: the board will hold a public hearing on the draft budget and consider formal adoption at the June 25, 2026 meeting.