The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has quarterly budget adjustments, and the adjustments approved May 21 appropriated $746,325 to the San Diego County Regional Fire Authority for two water tankers.
The supervisors’ 5-0 vote also appropriated $30,000 into the Campo Hills Water System zone of the Campo Water Maintenance District operated by the county. That funding will cover equipment replacement and maintenance.
Various factors normally cause the county to have more money than budgeted following the end of a fiscal quarter including staff turnover, lighter caseloads, and completed projects for which budgeted contingencies are not spent. The county had a balance of $158.2 million in the general fund and $222.0 million in all funds after the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2018-19. Midyear budget adjustments also allow the county to appropriate revenue not anticipated during the budget process and to transfer balances from previous years to the current fiscal year.
The county and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection have an “assistance by hire” program which involves CalFire reimbursing the county for SDCRFA resources used to combat wildfires in state responsibility areas, and money from that program was used to provide the funding for the water tenders. The money allows the county’s Department of Purchasing and Contracting to procure water tankers from the manufacturer, although the anticipated delivery time following an order is between six and eight months. The county fire department has a fleet replacement plan and when an existing water tender is on the verge of meriting replacement the new water tenders will replace the aging ones. The SDCRFA stations its water tenders based on the most likely anticipated needs.