Dino Gay
• Mon, Sep 05, 2011
In typical fashion for this outgoing city manager and his staff, they won't admit to any faults in doing the people's business – in this case they reject the following findings of the Yolo County Grand Jury investigation into the City of Woodland's emergency response billing program:
• City Ordinance No. 1506 deprives“responsible” parties of their due process rights, as the billing process does not provide proper notice or a formal method of contesting findings of responsibility.
• “Responsible” parties are treated inequitably, depending upon their insurance coverage.
• Billings are linked to insurance policy language.
• City Ordinance No. 1506 is a form of double taxation for Woodland property taxpayers.
• Record-keeping by both FRUSA and WFD is inadequate and is not auditable.
• The time it takes WFD personnel to gather and submit pertinent data does not make economic sense given the important public safety demands on their time.
City staff admits in the report that the contract for the program has not met its financial goals. The report also states, "While staff continues to support response billing, members of the City Council have expressed some concerns regarding whether or not the program should continue. In recognition of these concerns, the City Attorney has drafted an ordinance for introduction on September 6 that would repeal Sections 9-12 and 9-13 of the Municipal Code related to user fees for emergency services." Funny how these city council concerns can be polled with no regard to the Brown Act... but that maneuver is also typical of this staff.
http://woodlandrecord.com/city-staff-rejects-grand-jurys-findings-on-response-billing-p2231-1.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment