NCFPD expected to adopt budget Sept. 21

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The North County Fire Protection District is expected to adopt its budget Sept. 21.

The budget was reviewed at the Aug. 24 NCFPD board meeting but as an informational rather than a voting item. Normally the NCFPD board meetings are on the fourth Tuesday of the month, but a California Special Districts Association conference the fourth week of September caused a change to the third Tuesday for September.

"We have a balanced budget for the year," said NCFPD Fire Chief Keith McReynolds.

The budget is based on projected total revenue of $23,111,886. Most of the district's revenue is derived from property taxes. "The housing market is booming right now," McReynolds said. "North County Fire is doing well."

Community Facilities District assessments are part of a property tax bill for landowners within a CFD and provide additional revenue to the fire district, and developers pay fire mitigation fees based on square footage of the construction. The anticipated revenue also includes ambulance fees, cost recovery charges, prevention fees, tower lease agreements, Fallbrook Regional Healthcare District grants, and interest.

"We're able to invest a lot of money into our facilities," McReynolds said. "We were able to contribute money into our reserves."

The planned expenditures include $2,694,629 for capital improvements and facilities. The district will add $300,000 to reserves. Personnel salaries and benefits are expected to be a $15,983,173 expense, and the district anticipates $3,927,482 of operations and maintenance costs including $72,400 for community risk reduction programs and $2,000 for the Explorers program.

The facilities and capital improvement expenditure amount is comprised of $1,294,390 for fire stations and the administration building, $1,159,722 for apparatus, and $240,517 for equipment. Some of the expenditures will be debt repayment rather than new items, but the new estimated expenditures will include $500,000 for the engineering costs to replace Station 4 in Pala Mesa, $425,000 for a new modular building at Station 3 in Rainbow, $400,000 for a brush engine, $110,000 for an ambulance remount, and $28,000 for automated external defibrillators.

The transfer of $300,000 into reserves will increase the total reserve balance to $12,417,889.