Isleton's Financial Troubles Put 911 Services In Jeopardy

ISLETON (CBS13) — The city of Isleton's emergency services are in jeopardy after it couldn't pay its bills, and the Solano County sheriff told them his deputies would stop answering their emergency calls.

Monday was the deadline for city leaders to pay a nearly $20,000 bill to Solano County, or the town would be cut off from 911 service.

"It's awful; it's appalling," said City Manager Dan Hinrichs.

Solano County answers fire and medical calls, which means if the county didn't get paid, they would stop dispatching to calls such as fires and heart attacks.

"If your house caught on fire and you were in Isleton, you would not have an engine show up," Hinrichs said.

The city couldn't afford to pay the county from 2010 through this year, Hinrichs said. He recently offered to make payments, but the sheriff said enough was enough.

In a letter, the sheriff said, "We can no longer provide free services to the city of Isleton, and in fact, we have done so for so long," explaining "Fire and EMS calls were sent to our center, causing a delay and complicating communications."

But Hinrichs says there is an obligation to be met.

"The point is these are public agencies and they have some responsibility," he said.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors stepped in and loaned the money to Isleton just in time. But people who live in the city say they normally take it all for granted and couldn't believe they were so close to losing a service that could mean life or death.

"That's kind of pathetic seeing as though we don't even have a police station," said resident Rob Cid.

Deputies will take care of all other calls in Isleton that aren't fire- or medical-related.

The city is in the red by $400,000.