The city of Lompoc, like almost every other government from the federal level down to small towns like ours, has a problem managing how tax money is distributed to folks applying for rebates, grants, or any other form of government subsidy.
This time it’s Lompoc’s conservation rebate program that’s being examined for what some think was fraud and others simply a mismanaged handout of public funds.
This all started when one of the current City Council members was accused by the district attorney of fraud concerning his applications for a couple of these rebates.
In the interest of transparency, since 2019 I have received three of these rebates. One was for an old refrigerator we replaced with a new energy efficient one; another was when the City Council directed that a $200 greenhouse gas allowance revenue be refunded to ratepayers; and the last was for an under-slab water leak I had repaired by a licensed contractor.
This new deep dive would be in addition to the audit that was already conducted; based on the rates for city attorney services, this could be substantial.
Hundreds of other people have applied for rebates too. Most were like mine and included complete and accurate information; others like the current case against the City Council member contained patently false information.
Why is the council suddenly interested in this? Hasn’t the rebate program existed for at least 10 years? Could it be because a fellow council member is accused of wrongdoing, or is it because there may be a deep-rooted problem with how rebates may have been issued based on errors, omissions, or just plain fraudulent submittals?
On April 21, the council discussed the program, and some startling revelations surfaced concerning how it has been (mis)managed.
As the Santa Maria Sun reported on April 30, “Lompoc was required to report the investigation into [Councilman Steve] Bridge to their auditors, a city finance employee said. The independent accounting firm assessed 81 payments that the city made to rebate applicants between February 2024 and October 2025, City Attorney Jeff Malawy said. Of those 81, auditors determined that 11 applications lacked proof that licensed contractors performed the work. Not all applications asked for a license number, but now the city requires it.”
For this and future hearings, the city attorney announced that both Councilman Bridge, who is accused of committing multiple felonies related to this program, and the city manager, who had faulty rebate submittals but has not been charged by the DA with violating the law, would not participate in these hearings.
In comments during the meeting, Councilman Jeremy Ball made it clear that intentional fraud is one thing, but mistakes are another.
The council directed the city attorney to provide a closer look at the scope of the problem and provide an estimate of the cost of an independent audit versus any potential recovery of taxpayer funds due to faulty rebate submittals. This new deep dive would be in addition to the audit that was already conducted; based on the rates for city attorney services, this could be substantial.
But what about folks like me who apply for the rebates? What were the instructions provided to applicants? For example, when you submit your tax return every block on the form has a detailed explanation of what information is needed to properly submit your data for review. Almost every government form I ever completed contained a detailed explanation of what was needed, just like the IRS forms.
How many people knowingly or unknowingly submitted forms with insufficient information?
One thing is certain, of the thousands of rebate requests submitted, there may be several other faulty submittals. And another thing is certain: To recover any rebates that were distributed in error, the city may have to initiate time-consuming and costly action through the court system to recover the funds.
“Rebategate” may or may not be a serious problem; we’ll just have to wait until the analysis is complete.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 14 – May 21, 2026.