Development slowdown challenges fire budget
Tuesday night’s meeting of the American Canyon Fire Protection District board of directors saw the unanimous approval of the final budget for fiscal years 2025-2026, which includes a $200,000 new recruit the department can’t afford right now.
For several years, American Canyon Fire has been requesting a third battalion chief to help with 24/7 response to emergencies around the city. Right now, that job is split between two people, which isn’t enough to ensure coverage at all times.
So far, the issue has been cost: recruiting a battalion chief runs the city some $200,000 — equal to the deficit the department projects for 2026.
In recent years, a budget item for a new recruit hasn’t been passed. That changed Tuesday night, when the board unanimously approved the item, with some caveats.
Board member Mark Joseph, a self-described “wet-blanket” when it comes to financials, told the board he would approve the budget only as long as “we defer recruitment of the third battalion chief until we have a better handle on the financials.
“If you can’t afford it, it doesn’t matter how much you need it,” he said. A majority of board members and fire reps agreed, but ultimately felt confident passing the budget with the promise of future income, which depends on the pace of city development.
A good chunk of fire department funds come from tax revenue from new development, which has slowed down considerably. The decline amounts to a loss of about $86,500 for 2025. While projections for 2026 are optimistic, they remain unknown.
“These last few years, the problem has been our revenues haven’t grown as we anticipated,” Joseph told the American Canyon Current.
“If you look at the cost of living going up, and everything else, it doesn’t give you the extra capacity to add a body,” he said, but if development makes some headway, that could very well change.
The delays of several new developments have meant a delay to potential income for American Canyon Fire. Notably, a lawsuit filed by the city of Vallejo against American Canyon over alleged sidestepping of environmental processes has paused buildout of the 163-acre Giovannoni Logistics Center complex off Green Island Road.
The holdup on the massive project and slowdowns on other large developments means the city and county has a lot of unknowns in its fire budget.
Ultimately, Joseph told the board, “I’m comfortable operating at a deficit if we know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Because the budget is approved, the final say on hiring a third battalion chief is now in the hands of Fire Chief Geoff Belyea. In the meantime, the new recruit is proposed to begin Jan. 1, 2026.
