FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Bitwise has been failing on paying its employees for a year and a half, according to the City of Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.
According to the Mayor, he was not able to determine how much money the company owed to the City since they never reported how much they made, which is a determining factor of the amount of taxes they might owe.
“We’re having that looked into now, they haven’t told us what their gross receipts are number one which would then determine what their taxes are, we’re waiting for that to be provided to us,” said Dyer.
According to the Mayor, he also does not understand how the business was able to go unnoticed for over 18 months, and that they are looking into it.
“We’re looking into why that happened, it’s not uncommon for businesses to go unnoticed for a year, but to go that long. It’s over 18 months that those business taxes were in areas so we’re having that looked into definitely a blind spot we need to make sure we fix,” said Dyer.
Officials stated that employees were not able to cash their checks since they were bouncing because there was no funding behind them.
“Especially in light of the fact that the recent checks that were written to employees, they weren’t able to cash those because there was no funding behind them so in essence, whether you call
it a furlough or layoff people aren’t being paid,” stated Dyer.
The Mayor stated that the City was crippled because Bitwise failed to report its current status to agencies in proper time to ensure a better response, and to be able to help the employees to land jobs in the City of Fresno or to get unemployment benefits.
“I assure you that if we had been notified 60 days in advance of those employees, those employees would’ve already been at job, fairs, and unemployment benefits and many of those employees would have been able to successfully land jobs within the city of Fresno. As it stands now we’re trying to play catch-up,” said Dyer. “What’s happened to those 300 employees that suddenly were noticed they were going to be furloughed, their last paycheck was not able to be cashed in terms of funds behind those checks so… it is really their responsibility, and regardless of what’s happened with bitwise and what got them to this point in terms of their financial woes, they have legal responsibility. And to those employees, more importantly, to give them the opportunity to be able to have unemployment benefits and or to be able to find other employment.”
The Fresno City Mayor said that the City is trying to get back the $500,000 that was given to Bitwise, part of a million dollar awarded to the company from American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“I did call Jake this morning, left a message, and have not had a return call yet which I understand is pretty normal right now,” said Dyer. “But at the same time, we are pursuing a couple of things which you will hear from certain council members tomorrow in fact, they’re going to be coming out and providing a resolution at the next council meeting regarding the ARPA funds we provided.”
The Fresno City Mayor has a message for every employee that was the victim of this situation.
“The message I have as the Mayor of Fresno to each and every one of those employees at Bitwise is that we feel for you,” said Dyer. “We’re gonna do everything we can to get you reemployed should you be, should they be laid off from Bitwise but in Lieu of that, we want to make sure that they understand that they have rights, and we’re trying to afford them those rights through the WARN act. And we’re gonna be creating a job fair for them, we have openings in the City Of Fresno we’re going to be entertaining applications for some of the folks that might be qualified but the main thing is we want to make sure those 300 employees land on their feet.”