The Board of Commissioners of Idyllwild Fire Protection District approved Chief Mark LaMont’s draft budget for the Financial Year 2025-2026 at their March meeting. The total draft budget, $3,975,249, is about 10.6% higher than last year.

IFPD’s budget is divided into three categories: General Fire Protection, Emergency Medical Services, and Mutual Aid. General Fire Protection is budgeted at $977,470, up about 9%, EMS $2,299,063, also about 16% higher, and Mutual Aid $798,716, also almost 16% higher.

EMS shows a loss year after year. Local ambulance runs from the mountain communities are much further, and more costly to provide, than national averages. Medical transport calls are billed to health insurance, mostly Medicare, which pays $108, or MediCal, which reimburses $84. This isfar below the $3,000 that LaMont estimates as the cost of a trip off-the-hill. This creates an estimated $1.2 million shortfall.

The one growing source of revenue has been Mutual Aid. In the present financial year,IFPD has invoiced over $4.1 million and has received $3.6 million, which is already well above the previous year’s total of $2.4 million. Yet the draft only figures for $1.7 million in mutual aid revenue. These figures are below actual revenue because it is not a predictable source. LaMont says these funds should be going towards new equipment, not “holding up” the EMS program as they have been.

A draft budget may be approved and sent to the County and State, but the Board has until October to approve a final budget.

The Board also approved Chief LaMont’s request to purchase a water tender to replace a 1981 vehicle that was “out of service for mechanical reasons.” The replacement is a 2022 Ford F-750 with less than 6,000 miles on its odometer. The tender itself is $95,500, and the request adds $8,500 for additional equipment to “compliment” the tender, and other costs including delivery, to bring the estimated total to $110,500. The Chief’s request noted the importance of a water tender in areas where hydrants are sometimes more than 900 feet apart, and the desirability of a tender for Mutual Aid and Automatic Aid calls.

The request projected the cost to purchase and maintain the tender over a 12-year life at $552,500, and estimated “Billable use” for Mutual Aid calls at $774,144, a net income of $221,644.