Big Bear Fire Authority heads toward October vote on $12.9M budget, with staffing tensions on the table

Big Bear Fire Authority directors voted unanimously at their September 8 meeting to schedule a public hearing for October 13, at which they could take a final vote on a $12.9 million budget for the joint powers agency^[1]. The budget would fund fire protection across Big Bear Lake and the Big Bear City Community Services District — but a contentious debate over the plan's underlying assumptions suggests the spending vote may not end the staffing standoff that has left at least one fire station shorthanded since August.

What the budget proposes

The spending plan, drafted by Big Bear Lake City Manager Erik Sund and city staff, projects $12.9 million in tax revenue split evenly between the two member agencies — $6.4 million each from Big Bear Lake and from the CSD^[1]. On top of that, the budget counts on $700,000 in proceeds from selling two properties in Sugarloaf and 12 pieces of surplus equipment, including fire trucks, pushing total projected revenue to $13 million^[1].

Budgeted expenses land at $12.7 million, and the plan sets aside $500,000 to fill three vacant firefighter positions — a line item that sat at the center of the September 8 discussion^[1].

"Monopoly money" and the skeptics

Not everyone in the room was convinced the property and equipment sales would materialize as forecast. Public speakers at the September 8 meeting criticized the $700,000 projection as unreliable, calling the projected profits "Monopoly money" and predicting "the sales wouldn't be that easy or lucrative," according to reporting by The Grizzly^[1].

That skepticism found an echo inside the department itself. Captain Luke Wagner told the board he would not move confidently to backfill vacant positions until the money from those sales is actually in hand. "Until we have the money that comes with the sale of vehicles and or land, I don't have confidence … as to when can we re-implement the backfilling of the vacant positions," Wagner said^[1].

Wagner did confirm, when directly asked by Director Rick Herrick, that a passed budget would give him adequate funds to safely operate the department — but he attached the same condition: actual sale proceeds first^[1].

A station already feeling the squeeze

The debate was made concrete by firefighter Brittania Huether, who spoke during public comment. "The firefighter position at (station) 282 has been browned out since Aug. 10 and continues to be browned out today. I know this because that is my station," she told the board^[1]. Huether noted she is one of three engineers at the station currently down a firefighter.

Wagner said shift vacancies can be covered by overtime, and expressed measured optimism: "I feel fairly confident … that if we continue on the way we have been running in the past month or so, we will get through it," the artifact text records him saying. But he framed his caution as fiscal responsibility rather than defiance: "I'm just trying to be mindful of the money we have, that's all."

Board frustration breaks into the open

The gap between what the budget promises and what operations are delivering visibly frustrated at least one director. Perri Melnick asked pointedly why the board should bother passing a budget if department leadership didn't trust the revenue numbers enough to act on them. "We said months ago that we were not planning to pass a budget with staffing cuts. All I keep hearing is it doesn't matter what budget we pass, they're cutting staffing because they don't trust in the budget that we are passing," Melnick said^[1].

Director Charles Hicks, representing Big Bear Lake, pushed back against paralysis. "We need to pass this budget. We need to go forward," Hicks said. "We need to make sure right now we have the funds to pay for this department, and just keep tight on the watch"^[1].

What comes next

The Big Bear Fire Authority's public hearing is scheduled for October 13, when the board may take a binding vote on the final budget. Residents who want to weigh in on the spending plan — including the disputed $700,000 sales projection and the three vacant firefighter positions — will have the opportunity to comment at that meeting before any vote is taken.