By: Julie Farren , May 29, 2014 | Original Article at Record Gazette
The City of Beaumont has been ordered to pay $42 million, plus interest, to the Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG) for failing to pay funds for regional transportation projects over the past nine years.
“My hope is that it would start immediately,” WRCOG executive director, Rick Bishop said about payment.
The ruling was handed down on Thursday, May 22, by Orange County Superior Court Judge David Chaffee, who found that the city had failed to comply with the Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee program.
WRCOG is made up of representatives from 17 cities, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, and the Eastern and Western Municipal Water Districts. The Riverside County Superintendent of Schools and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians are currently ex-officio members of the Executive Committee. Together, as a joint powers agency, they take up regional matters such as air quality, solid waste, transportation and environmental issues.
The City of Beaumont joined this program in 2003.
Chaffee wrote in his decision that the City of Beaumont had “misdirected” funds intended for the Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee (TUMF) program.
A portion of the official court transcript said “in no instance did the city’s claimed construction of transportation improvements satisfy the TUMF requirements to add true roadway capacity. If anything, the evidence shows poor local transportation planning and execution…”
The ruling also went on to say that “city management and staff engaged in a pattern and practice of deception that transcends the typical give and take of dispute negotiation. Had this been a typical civil trial containing allegations of fraud, I would have found fraud by clear and convincing evidence as against the city.”
City manager Alan Kapanicas said Tuesday afternoon that he couldn’t comment on the current litigation.
The court has directed Beaumont to remit the funds commensurate with the time period of 2005 through 2009, which totals $42,994,879, plus interest, which is calculated from 2009 to the present.
The interest rate is 10 percent, which means an extra $20 million accrued in the past five years.
WRCOG filed suit against Beaumont in 2009, according to the Western Riverside Council of Governments press release. The lawsuit was filed after years of discussions and negotiations failed in reaching a settlement.
Bishop said he noticed some inconsistency in Beaumont’s reporting in 2004-05 and that the city was only making partial payments.
One of the primary concerns, according to WRCOG, was the city’s failure to provide adequate documentation supporting the city’s compliance with the TUMF program, which justified the city’s failure to remit funds.
WRCOG wrote that no other member agency had taken the same action as the city of Beaumont.