SOUTH WHIDBEY RECORD: Langley draws county ire over unpaid bill (AUDIO)

Jessie Stensland reports from the Island County Commissioners workshop meeting on Jun 1, 2022.

A bill for a street project that Island County managed for the city of Langley has turned into a source of contention after going unsettled for well over two years.

During a workshop meeting Wednesday, county commissioners agreed to reduce the $60,000 balance, though not by the amount the Langley officials requested. Two of the commissioners had unusually tough words for Langley over its refusal to pay the bill.

They Said It

Commissioner Janet St. Clair pointed out that the commissioners awarded Langley millions of dollars in grants during the same time period in which city officials were unwilling to reimburse the county. She said if a workable solution can’t be found she might need “further persuasion” to award grants in the future.

“It is not okay for them not to pay their bills because they didn’t have their internal stuff, for lack of a better word, worked out,” she said.

Commissioner Jill Johnson likened the city’s actions to someone getting a haircut or buying gas and then refusing to pay. She emphasized that the county agreed to manage the project as a favor for the city. The city’s grants had a deadline that the city wasn’t able to make on its own, and the county agreed to collect the payment afterward, she said.

“The lesson to incorporate into our culture,” Johnson said, “is, yeah, we don’t front other municipalities money for their projects. They have to have it.”

Johnson, however, said while it made sense to reduce the overhead cost for Langley, she proposed that the city pay the “federal indirect rate,” which she described as the overhead rate the county collects from grants it receives. The rate is about 6%, she said.

“You shouldn’t pay less than what it costs us to run our system,” she said.

Commissioner Melanie Bacon, however, pointed out that the situation was more complicated, with the cost of the project being higher than Langley anticipated because of added work. She thanked her fellow commissioners, on behalf of Langley, for being willing to cut overhead costs.