The plan nearly exhausted the available balance
Kern’s Vehicle/Apparatus–Fire fund began the adopted schedule with $4,967,965 available and listed no new financing. The county assigned $4,757,748 to financing uses and left $210,217 as the scheduled ending balance.
Planned uses equaled 95.8% of available resources. The remaining cushion was 4.2%. Because the schedule lists no new financing, every adopted dollar of use was supported by balance accumulated before the budget year.
| Budget line | Amount | Share of resources |
|---|---|---|
| Available opening balance | $4,967,965 | 100% |
| New financing | $0 | 0% |
| Financing uses | $4,757,748 | 95.8% |
| Ending balance | $210,217 | 4.2% |
Almost half the gross balance was already set aside
Schedule 3 reports a $9,829,895 total fund balance and $4,861,930 in committed or assigned amounts. Those classifications reduce the balance available for the adopted financing plan to $4,967,965.
The gross balance therefore should not be described as a $9.8 million pot available for new apparatus purchases. Roughly 49.5% had already been committed or assigned before the Schedule 2 plan.
A drawdown is not proof of a purchase
The summary identifies the intended financing draw but not the number, model, price, delivery date or replacement priority of any fire vehicles. It also does not show whether procurement delays caused money to roll forward.
The finding is narrower: the adopted plan depended entirely on accumulated balance and left little unallocated capacity in this fund. It is not evidence that Kern bought the vehicles, overspent or faces an apparatus shortage.
Method and missing records
The newsroom compared the two fund schedules and calculated use, ending-balance and commitment shares. The budget was treated as a prospective plan, not as proof of payment.
Purchase orders, fleet-age data, board approvals and audited actuals would establish what was acquired and whether the drawdown matched the county’s replacement strategy.