YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 16, No. 28
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District borrows from itself
July 13, 2018
Suspect To Be Arraigned
Taking a ride
by Aly Brown Staff Writer
The Byron Union School District (BUSD) board of directors has approved the district’s request to borrow $250,000 to meet their growing financial obligations – the second such loan since June 14. “(The loan) is a cash-flow transfer from one district fund to another,” said BUSD Board President David Turner. The funds are set to pay for operating requirements incurred in the fiscal year. “We are about $250,000 short on what we need,” said Interim CBO Elaine Neilsen. “It will be paid back in August when the property tax is (obtained).” At the June 14 board meeting, members approved the first interfund transfer in the amount of $300,000, bringing the current total amount borrowed to $550,000. see District page 34
Matthew Redmond is set to be arraigned in connection with the death of his mother. Page 4
Sweet Corn Recipes Photo by Tony Kukulich
T
he children’s parade kicked off the City of Brentwood’s Fourth of July celebration in downtown Brentwood, Wednesday, July 4. Crowds turned out for the popular annual event and enjoyed a day of food, festivities and fun. To see additional photos of the event, see page 16. To view more photos of the event, visit www.thepress.net/ multimedia/slideshows
ECCFPD votes to adjust aid fees “ It is important to update our fees each
by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) will alter its fees for providing medical aid to align with the expense of giving help. The time-based charges, set to take effect in August, will change the fee from $337 per response to $209.46 for calls lasting 30 minutes or less, $399.88 for 31 to 60 minutes, $590.30 for 60 to 90 minutes, and $780.72 for 90 or more minutes. The board unanimously approved the changes, and no audience members spoke on the topic during public comment. “We wanted to make sure we were adequately capturing the time reflected at scene for the district responding to medical calls,”
year to reflect the current cost of the service being provided.
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Joe Young, ECCFPD finance subcommittee chairman said Fire Chief Brian Helmick. “The staff developed and revised the ordinance with calculations for medical calls for 30 or less minutes, 31 to 60 minutes, 60 to 90 minutes and more than 90 minutes through 120.” The fee will continue to be charged to individuals (or their insurance companies) after receiving medical aid from district firefighters but is waived in certain instances, including for those who
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demonstrate financial hardship or who have died. The charges are permissible under the Fire Protection District Law of 1987, which allows districts to charge for services they are empowered to perform if they have inadequate revenue to render services. However, the district can only charge the amount it spends to complete the service. In the district’s case, that means aligning the fees with the
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half-hour costs of $52.53 to employ a captain, $48.36 for a engineer, $42.03 for a senior firefighter and $47.50 for equipment operation. A 10 percent administrative fee is also added to calls of 30 or fewer minutes. “Since Chief Helmick took office, he has initiated a thorough review of district finances, including more accurate cost estimates,” said Board Member Stephen Smith. “We were undercharging and not accounting for cost increases. We have also changed from one-hour increments to half-hour increments to better match the fees to amount of service rendered.” The original fee, a flat $337 per response, was approved in 2016, but has only been collected see Fees page 34
Electric Ride
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Tri Delta Transit recently began operating its first battery electric bus.
Check out the latest, greatest recipes for summer from the local farmers markets. Page 12
Winding Up For The Win
Antioch’s little league softball players heading to the senior west coast regionals. Page 23 Calendar................................35 Classifieds.............................29 Cop Logs................................33 Entertainment.....................13 Food........................................12 Health & Beauty..................15 Milestones............................27 Opinion..................................22 Pets.........................................10 Sports.....................................23
Free Lunch
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East County school districts offering free and reduced-price lunches.