The gross balance overstated what was available
Schedule 3 lists $5,994,513 as the Emergency Medical Services fund’s total balance, then deducts $5,736,017 classified as committed or assigned. The remaining available amount was $258,496.
In other words, 95.7% of the gross balance was already set aside under the county’s classifications. Reporting the fund as having an unrestricted $6 million reserve would be wrong.
| Measure | Amount | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Gross fund balance | $5,994,513 | Before adjustments |
| Committed or assigned | $5,736,017 | 95.7% of gross balance |
| Available opening balance | $258,496 | 4.3% of gross balance |
| Adopted ending balance | $564,509 | After planned uses |
New financing carried the operating plan
The adopted schedule added $2,055,000 in new financing to the $258,496 available opening balance, for $2,313,496 in resources. It budgeted $1,748,987 in uses and a $564,509 ending balance.
New financing provided 88.8% of resources. The ending balance was 24.4% of resources, larger than the available opening amount because planned financing exceeded planned uses.
No response-time finding can be made
These schedules establish financing structure, not ambulance performance. They do not report 911 response times, provider compliance, ambulance hours, rural coverage, patient outcomes or the purpose of the $5.7 million already committed or assigned.
That limitation is material. The accounting shows that the headline gross balance was largely unavailable, but it cannot establish whether Kern’s EMS system was adequately funded or performing well.
How the figures were checked
The newsroom reconciled the Schedule 2 resource-and-use rows to the Schedule 3 fund-balance calculation and independently computed percentages. All figures are adopted budget amounts, not audited year-end actuals.
The original finding is the 95.7% obligation concentration and the resulting difference between gross and usable balance. Contract exhibits and performance reports would be needed for a service-quality investigation.