Blog note: this article references a grand jury report.
The city of McFarland is withholding $681,120 from the Kern County Fire Department in a contract dispute over fire services performed over the last two years, a grand jury reported Monday.
The move could potentially jeopardize future fire services within the city. Previously, McFarland officials have said they cannot afford to pay the price the county requires.
From fiscal year 2017-18 to FY 2018-19, the county fire department provided fire services to McFarland under a contract negotiated in 2017.
The current contract is set to end June 30, and a Kern County grand jury reported that Kern County officials could close the fire station in McFarland if the county and city do not come to an agreement on a new contract before then.
In the event that negotiations fall through, the grand jury said fire stations from other cities would respond to McFarland if there is a fire.
McFarland officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Over the last two fiscal years, the contract said that McFarland pay $150,000 for fire services.
However the grand jury report noted that Kern County officials had intended for McFarland to pay the county additional funds representing the total cost for providing fire services to the city.
County officials reportedly told the grand jury that McFarland was supposed to pay $68,112 per year for 10 years to pay off the complete costs.
“Due to an oversight in the contract, Kern County Officials did not ‘memorialize’ this stipulation,” the report says. “The amortized annual payments were not written into the finalized agreement between McFarland and Kern County.”
As a result, the grand jury says McFarland contends it is not obligated to pay the remaining balance, leaving Kern County to foot the bill.
For 28 years prior to 2017, McFarland had not paid for fire services from the county. During contract negotiations in 2017, former McFarland City Manager John Wooner bristled at the proposed price offered by the county, saying the county operated its fire service inefficiently.
The grand jury said McFarland was looking into starting its own fire department.
Wooner has been missing since mid-May so could not respond to requests for comment.
The county and McFarland officials will meet this week to negotiate a potential new contract.
The grand jury recommended the Board of Supervisors a “more effective review process” of fire department contracts to ensure omissions are not made.
The group also recommended the county continue to pursue the funds county officials say is owed by McFarland.
June 17, 2019
The Bakersfield Californian
By Sam Morgen
No comments:
Post a Comment