Second District Assemblyman Jim Nielsen will be coming over to the Chico Library to discuss ways to fight local tax increases. He has promised to give us some good strategies. I hope there will be a good turn-out – we need to let Tom Lando know, we will not support his plans to raise our local sales tax three quarters of a cent.
We are lucky to have good friends – our friend Mark is one of the bestest. Every year he gets us a ginormous corned beef brisquet from the locker, and we eat it for a week, in one form or another. My favorite way to finish it off is to use the broth to make a nice pot of minestrone.
I used my own tomato sauce, from last year’s garden. My husband plants a lot of tomatoes because you never know what might happen. They kicked in late last summer, because of that late rain – we didn’t get a ripe tomato til August! And then they came in, Hellbent for Glory. My little freezer was solid packed by the end of September. I still have about half a dozen pints of sauce in there, stowed away with all my Meyer’s lemon juice and some big-ass chickens bought on sale at Safeway.
Nothing makes a good pot of soup like some good bread – this time I made it into stix, my kids loved them. I might make some more today.
I buttered them when they were still hot and rolled them in a little pile of big salt and garlic powder. Next time I might use real garlic – I’ve heard, if you eat enough garlic, it keeps the tax vampires away. I know, that’s probably just some old wives’ tale.
What you really need to do to keep the tax vampires at bay is organize early and get a good plan. So, next Sunday, Casey has got a promise from Jim Nielsen, Second Assembly District representative, to come to the library and give us some strategies for fighting tax increases.
Jim Nielsen shares our area with Dan Logue. Their districts meet up at Hwy 99, splitting off some of West and South Chico, with Nielsen skirting the edges and Logue taking the lion’s share of our town. Nielsen has been in one California legislative office or another, on and off, for over 25 years. I don’t know how you feel about him politically, but I’d say, he has some experience to share and some things to tell us about the system, how it works, and how to go about putting down Tom Lando’s plan to increase our sales tax by 3/4 of a cent, in it’s tracks.
Unfortunately, I have a previous committment, a Mom Thing, and nothing gets in front of the Mom Thing. So, I am counting on folks to come out and greet Mr. Nielsen and show him a good time, listen to what he has to say and give me the skinny when I get home.
Remember, keep the questions and the conversation on topic – what strategies can Nielsen offer to stop this tax increase? Has he ever participated in a local tax increase battle? Does he know of any instances where citizens have successfully overturned an effort like this? How?
I’d like to invite Dan Logue and other legislators and local elected officials to speak to us as well, so let’s be nice to Nielsen, give him the old “Y’ll come back now, y’hear!” treatment.
That’s next Sunday, April 1 (yeah, I know!), at 11:30 am, at the Chico Branch of the Butte County Library, at the corner of First and Sherman Avenues.
City Finance Director? Jennifer Hennessy, in her Preview of the FY2012-13 Preliminary Budget, reports that utility rates are about to go up.
It’s your fault, Stupid – you’ve been altogether too good at cutting down on your energy and water usage, Doh! So PG&E and Cal Water will just have to raise your rates!
I found it in next week’s city council agenda, available here – get out your waders, Folks, it’s thick and deep. And it stinks:
http://www.ci.chico.ca.us/government/minutes_agendas/documents/3-20-12CityCouncilAgendaPacket.pdf
On page 4 of the Preliminary Budget Preview, Hennessy reports,
“Utility User’s Tax – growth rate of +1%
Currently the city is experiencing growth in Gas and Water services, but declines in electric and Telecom are offsetting this growth. PG&E is projecting up to 1% increase in electric rates, and between 1-5% increase in gas rates. However, they are projecting gas usage to decline. Cal Water is projecting a rate increase but is unable to provide the amount at this time. Telecommunications are also difficult to project because of the many changes in this industry. The city has seen a decline in cell phone companies’ remittances due to interpretations of our ordinance, as well as the exclusion of telecom companies taxing data plans.”
Points of interest:
1) your electricity is about to go up 1 percent and your gas 1 to 5 percent (but you won’t notice the gas increase til about next November)
2) your water rates are going up
3) the city, while they’re not mentioning it here, will have to get us to vote by 2/3’s majority to tax our own cell phones or they are going to lose that revenue altogether
4) despite the projected decrease in gas usage and the decline in cell phone tax revenues, Hennessy predicts a 1 percent increase in the UT based on the 1 percent increase in electric rates. Your pain is the city’s gain!
This is why, try as you might to be a good steward and cut down on energy usage, your bills continue to go up. I always keep mine, so I know.
My family has moved from a big house into a tiny apartment. We’ve decreased our living space by roughly 38 percent, but our PG&E bill has gone down less than 20 percent. That’s because, over the last two years since my family made this sacrifice, PG&E has lowered the gas “baseline” by almost 14 “therms,” while raising the baseline price per therm from 94 cents to $1 per therm. So, you get less at the cheap price, and the cheap price ain’t so cheap no more!
Your water rate just went up too – in fact, Cal Water has instituted strange new “tiers” – two “Tier 1” and two “Tier 2”? Look at your bill – your baseline for water just went from 10 ccf at 83 cents/ccf, to 9.31 ccf at 87 cents/ccf! And after that first 9.31 ccf, the price goes up to the second “Tier 1” – .69 ccf at 88 cents/ccf. That’s less than one ccf for more than you paid for a whole ccf yesterday. And then there are two “Tier 2” prices – 1.86 ccf at 93 cents/ccf, and then .14 ccf at 94 cents/ccf.
No, I’m not going to tell you what a ‘ccf’ is, I’m trying to get you to look at your bill, dammit!
I’d also like to point out, that while the city is supposed to work for the citizens, to protect us against this kind of wanton price gouging from “public” utility companies, they are instead helping Cal Water and PG&E to screw us blind.
Don’t forget to save your PG&E and water bills and apply for your Utility Tax Rebate – available in May. I’ll let you know as soon as I nag the Finance Dept into putting the form on the website.
Every two weeks the city council gets another dose of medicine – budget updates on the dissolution of the Redevelopment Agency. Malfeasance Director Jennifer Hennessy is trying to break it to them slowly that we are out of money, and then they have these little confabs about how to hand the situation. These meetings are maddeningly the same – they never really come up with any solutions, they just sit wringing their hands.
At my house we have had some financial shocks. For example – I had to get some dental work done, cause I ain’t been to the dentist in six years. My teeth were in generally good shape, except for my back molars – the ones I grind like 24-7. In fact, I’m holding my tongue between my teeth right now to keep them from grinding.
My back molars needed a little extra work – at $170 a tooth, I’d like to think of it as a weekend in the Poconos. All told, between the initial exam, the standard all-around cleaning, and the two back molars, this little adventure ran me about $650. Yeah, $90 for a 40 minute pick and scrape, that was kind of a shocker. By the time I paid all this off, I had taken a hefty broadside at my family’s budget.
But, I have to say, my teeth were still in pretty good shape – I’ve always had trouble with those molars. When my kids were little, my dentist had me coming in four times a year, at $90 a pop – just put a bell around my neck and lead me to the barn! When I’d see my dentist at the grocery store, I felt like saying, “Mooooo-oooo Fred!” So, I actually saved money by not going in, contrary to the lecture I got from my hysterical hygienist, Carol. You heard me – I saved money by NOT going to the dentist.
So, I’m going to practice the same kind of budgetary magic our Malfeasance Director, Jennifer Hennessy has taught me over the last five or six years – instead of recording the $650 as a loss, I’m going to write off a $720 savings!
Unfortunately the city budget is not so simple. Our city has become addicted to endless spending – it’s like heroin, and they are hooked bad. To watch these idiots try to fumble their way out of the mess they’ve made for themselves is very frustrating. It’s like watching the teenagers do all the wrong things in a slash movie. You scream at the movie screen – DON’T OPEN THE DOOR! – but they don’t hear you!
When I sit through these discussions, I want to scream, “CUT THE CRAP!”
And the “CRAP” I’m talking about are the committees. Like the Sustainability Task Force. Linda Herman is struggling to keep this group together, to keep them on “task”, because her salary depends on it. She makes over $85,000 a year, plus benies and pension, to administer to a pack of children who can’t even make meetings. In fact, lately, Linda seems to have had trouble making the meetings:
Hi Everyone, Fletcher called me last week concerned about the timeline that was set regarding the Sustainable Business Program. Primarily he was concerned that the beta test businesses being contacted this week and then having Alan gone on spring break during the time when the businesses may have questions. I know that the problem was that Fletcher and I were not at the Ad-Hoc meeting and we sincerely apologize for that.
Right now they are working on the “Sustainable Business” program. Each member is supposed to survey local businesses, find out what they think of the checklists and “tasks” the committee has come up with – stuff like, replacing all your lightbulbs with little mercury bombs, and providing bicycles for your employees to ride across the street to have lunch. We’ll see if they do any better than the Diversity Action Committee, who had to be nagged constantly by Mom Rucker, and turned in less than 200 “surveys” in a town of over 85,000 people.
But I notice right away, in an e-mail from committee member and Recology employee Jill Ortega, they only seem to be contacting businesses who are already on the bandwagon – “My list includes the following: Chamber of Commerce, DCBA, Transfer Flow, Woodstock’s, Sierra Nevada Brewery, and Masie Janes.”
In fact, Ken Grossman, owner of Sierra Nevada, is a member of the STF, regardless of the fact that he never does any work and only shows up at a few meetings a year. This whole “Sustainable Business Program” is really just a bunch of people sitting in a circle patting each other on the back at our expense.
Why would Ortega choose to include failed Greenfeet owner Valerie Reddeman in her survey? You got me. “Even though her business has recently closed, I believe she can provide some valuable insight.” Well, she’s also a member of the committee, and I’ll bet she’ll be real cooperative too. Between these two gals, they’ll come up with a favorable review of their own program, how nice.
Neither the DCBA nor the Chamber were interested, according to Ortega, so that leaves her with nobody but the choir to preach to. By the way, Ortega is one of several garbage company employees, as well as employees from the county dump, who are paid to sit in these committees. They tack that onto your garbage bill every month, I hope you don’t mind.
This is how they fiddle while you are at work all day. They’re supposed to meet next Monday afternoon, but they still haven’t confirmed that yet. I’ll try to keep you posted, but if it snows over the weekend, I ain’t going.
Below is Chico Taxpayer Association board member Casey Aplanalp’s letter to the Enterprise Record, run in this morning’s paper.
If you haven’t seen the survey he mentions, look here:
https://chicotaxpayers.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/lando-releases-survey/
The survey isn’t just leading, and it isn’t just misleading, it’s downright dishonest, insinuating that certain people and groups support the tax without asking these folks for their permission – including Larry Wahl and the Bidwell Presbyterian Church, both of whom contacted me/this blog.
Lando will use the dishonest survey results to write his tax increase measure for the council, and I’m afraid certain members of council will try to say that’s enough to put the measure on the ballot. We have to write letters to council – write more than one letter if you feel the need – telling them we want a petition with the legal number of signatures. We should let both Ann Schwab and Bob Evans know that if they put this measure on the ballot without the signatures, they’re going down in flames in November.
I believe my question regarding how a tax increase measure gets on the ballot, along with a general report regarding the upcoming tax increase proposals (that’s proposals, plural…) headed for the upcoming ballot is agendized for the first meeting in April, but you’ll have to wait for confirmation from the city clerk. I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, read this letter from Casey and try to search for inspiration to write your own:
We need to know more about the sales tax hike proposed by Tom Lando and Jim Stevens. This needs to see the light of day.
I have a copy of the script the survey company is using, and it’s as crooked as a rubber cane. Biased and leading. Results should be scrutinized and dismissed upon presentation.
I’ve sent Lando an invitation to present and explain his proposition publicly, which has been ignored. What is he hiding? The Chico Taxpayers Association, Butte Taxpayers Alliance, Chico Tea Party, Butte Republican Party, Butte Libertarian
Party, Young Americans for Liberty, and the local Ron Paul Support team are all opposed to this sales tax hike proposed by Lando.
Where’s the tax hike support? And where’s the coverage?
Casey Aplanalp, Chico
The Chico PD and fire department are the biggest salary suckers in town. Together they take about 85 percent or more of our city pie, with the cops getting over half.
It’s not just their salaries, which were artificially raised along with all city workers by that MOU that linked pay to revenue INCREASES but NOT DECREASES. The cops and fire department are the worst because they have managed to get overtime written in to their contracts. They are guaranteed a certain amount of overtime, and given just about as much as they want beyond that. Some of them double their salaries with overtime, a practice know in the industry as “spiking.”
Spiking has driven our city employee costs through the roof, especially pension costs. See, cops and fire are allowed to retire at 90 PERCENT of their highest year’s salary. So, you got these people who agreed to salaries in the $50 – 80,000 range, “spiking” their pensions up to $100,000 plus. Fire Chief John Brown retired a couple of years ago at over $206,000. I used to watch this man struggle to stay awake in meetings, just so he could give his two cents that overtime saves money over new hires. What a crock of bullshit, but council has bought this line for years, allowing the police and fire departments to suck the city dry without really providing any service.
Another problem with the fire and police departments is workman’s comp. For two years running, I’ve heard Malfeasance Director Jennifer Hennessy report that we are “again” overbudget in this fund, due to excessive injuries in the Chico police and fire departments.
So yesterday we are treated to a front page story in the Enterprise Wreched – “Officer who suffered career-ending injury in Chico riot dies in Willows.”
I usually try to avoid disrespect for the dead, but I’m certainly not going to try to manufacture any phony respect for a guy who saw an opportunity to rack up some overtime playing “Riot Cop” in another town when he knew damned well he had a bad knee and didn’t have any business on active duty.
According to Greg Welters epic sob story, then-47-year-old Willows police sargeant Bill Carter injured himself during the Rancho Chico day “riots” of 1990. But as you read the story, a few things stand out. At some point during the mayhem, Carter claimed, “Something popped in his left leg, and he knew his knee had become dislocated.” Yes, he knew his knee had become dislocated, because it had happened before.
What was a 47 year old man with a bad knee doing at a riot in another town?
Well, of course, he was SPIKING HIS SALARY. And, he got his cherry on top – retirement with full disability at 47 years old, with a pension based on that last years spiked salary.
And now I’m supposed to cry for a guy who just spend the last 20 years milking a bad knee? He even went on to another job – how ironic – he went into fraud investigation work. Maybe he should have investigated himself. Read the story – at several points, he knew his knee was injured, but he made the decision to keep re-injuring himself, until he had an injury that was sure to end his “career” and set him up for life.
Cry for a 69 year old man who just died after milking the system for the last 20 plus years? I don’t think so. I think there should be a special place in Hell for people who take advantage of the public trust. And their widows, too.
When I did some research regarding knee injuries, I found a list of specific jobs in which knee injuries are considered part of the game – three were sports, the fourth was carpet layer. Neither cops nor firefighters were on the list. Only jobs in which a repetitive action will result in a predictable type of injury were listed. For carpet layers, it’s the knee kicker that moves the carpet into place. That will also give a person a hernia. So will carrying giant rolls of carpet onto a job site without any assistance. My husband has had both of those injuries, but because he’s a contractor instead of a publicly-paid trough sucker, we had to pay the doctors out of our own pocket, and he’s not eligible for workman’s comp, so he was just unemployed.
The next two reasons given for the average knee injury were age and obesity. I didn’t know Bill Carter, but let’s face it – 47 is old for any active job. You wouldn’t have found a 47-year-old Nolan Ryan running out to fight with drunk 20-somethings in a riot. Any adult should have better sense. I think Carter did it on purpose, but that’s my opinion.
There also ought to be a special place in hell for journalists who write this kind of crap, but it’s about what I’ve come to expect from Greg Welter. Welter never writes a story that’s NOT slanted. He’s on the cop beat – funny, he was also on the Redevelopment Agency’s “citizen’s oversight committee” a few years back. The committee that was disbanded on Scott Gruendl’s request when I and some other citizens asked that the commitee’s activities be opened up to the scrutiny of the public. I was put on their e-mail chat list, and I read over the conversations they were having among themselves. At one point, when other members balked at the (then) $40 million price tag for the new police station, Welter argued that the cops should get whatever they want. “Whatever we do, ” he cautioned, ” we (the RDA committee) don’t want to be perceived as ‘anti-police’…”
I don’t know why he’s so worried about being perceived “anti-police”. Maybe he should try to be perceived as an honest journalist who writes unbiased stories. But maybe that’s not why he got into journalism, I don’t know.
I bet you are as happy as I am to hear that the Butte Taxpayers Alliance has voiced their opposition to both the proposed sales tax increase and the phone tax coming before the city of Chico. We need to network to get the word out, and Jack Lee and friends are working hard to do just that:
http://www.norcalblogs.com/post_scripts/2012/03/bta-will-oppose-new-taxes.html
These folks are doing serious work, reviewing the city budget, going to committee meetings, asking the questions that need to be asked, and getting the answers out to the public. Their website:
http://www.buttetaxpayers.org/
I’m sorry, I attended neither the Finance Committee Meeting nor the Economic Development Committee meetings this past week. I didn’t even attend any Sustainability Task Force meetings lately. Sometimes I need to stay away from the bullshit factory, it starts to be a drain.
But, I don’t think I need to go to committee meetings to know the city is planning to sucker us out of almost $12,000,000 a year in additional taxes, and I’m not going to just stand here and take it. This council has ruined the housing market, lost large manufacturers and chased others away, and now they will ruin the retail sector? We can’t have that. Tell your friends, get ready, we’re all about to be squeezed. If you aren’t a turnip, you better say something.
I’ve had a lot of interest and questions about the post I made about the airport lawsuit:
https://chicotaxpayers.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/hostile-city-of-chico-mismanages-the-airport/
Alot of people I’ve spoken to have asked how much this whole thing is costing the taxpayers. Stephanie Taber actually went to the trouble of putting that question into writing and handing it to $taff. When you give them a written question, they have to give you some kind of response.
Here’s their response:
“Through the end of December 2011, the City has spent approximately $130,000 on
outside attorneys since the lawsuit was filed. The Assistant City Attorney has spent more than 1500 hours on the matter, plus additional hours spent by the City Attorney. Additionally, approximately $38,000 has been spent on non-attorney/salary costs (i.e. depositions).”
I don’t feel this is a particularly straight answer – notice how they just give us the amount of hours on the assistant city attorney, no mention of actual money, and then “additional hours spent” on the part of the city attorney, Lori Barker. Barker’s time is worth about $126 an hour. So, let’s make a ballpark shot – the assistant city attorney is making at least $90 an hour, maybe more, so we’ve paid him over $100,000, just to work on this case. Plus, he can’t litigate, so they have to hire the outside attorneys at $130,000. And that’s just so far.
My source has told me that Mr. Jay has a pretty big “Sue-sue-sue Ya!” budget, he’s not sweating this thing. And a little bird told me, he’s probably going to win, eventually. That’s what all the stalling is about, apparently. That, and two city attorneys lining their nest with the green stuff, and a third city attorney illegally and inappropriately using her position to help her parents also line their pockets.
While Alicia Rock is not working directly on the case, she is a member of $taff, and in my opinion, something stinks here. The whole thing is outrageous.
Old Yiddish proverb: When the fish stinks, it’s the head of the fish that stinks. In this case, as in all cases before the city of Chico, the stinking head would be our mayor, Ann Schwab.
I oftentimes get so frustrated with the cornmash that passes for public discussion Downtown, I’ll admit – I’ve avoided meetings because I just can’t stomach any more.
You have to listen to people like Valerie Reddeman, owner of the flopped business Green Feet, lecturing about how everybody else should behave. You have to listen to the “Emily Latellas” – people who obviously haven’t read the agendas or reports and don’t really understand the subject at hand but insist on blathering on for their three minutes of absolute attention – thank you singing bag lady! Last night we got our own local version of The Voice!
If you’re lucky, you will be there when somebody gets up there and tells it like it is. Last night that was Sue Hubbard. Sue stood up against the bag ban, telling council and the assembled bag-ban groupies how sick she is of watching her town run into the dirt by a bunch of self-aggrandizing egomaniacs.
Sue goes to the meetings regularly, so she knows what she’s saying. These meetings are frustrating. Certain council members don’t listen to the public, and make no bones about that. Andy Holcombe has actually admitted that he makes his mind up previous to a meeting and nothing the public has to say is going to affect him. Last night he tried to derail a conversation I had requested be agendized, regarding the placement of tax increase measures on the ballot, by pretending not to understand what I was asking for.
Thanks to Sue, who stood up during “Business from the Floor” and asked them to honor my request. And I stood up. And then the crickets chirped. I thought we were dead.
But then Mark Sorensen came roaring in, reminding everybody, there’s THREE possible taxes coming round (like some rough beast) on the June ballot – including that phone tax I was talking about – and Sorensen suggested there should be some kind of public discussion regarding the nuts and bolts of deadlines, etc.
And, along came little Ann – butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth! – to agree with Sorensen!
So, while they aren’t agendizing any big to-doo about it, the city attorney is going to write up a little “informational” ditty to be included on an upcoming agenda explaining the process we are about to watch unfold. I’ll get that as soon as I can.
I’d like to dedicate this blog to Sue. Here’s one of my favorite songs by Johnny Cash:
This is from San Quentin, and the song is so new you can see him reading his notes as he sings.
“I tell you I’ve fought tougher men, but I really can’t remember when…” Go Sue!
Here is Tom Lando’s sales tax survey, apparently conducted at some point within the last couple of weeks:
Chico Sales Tax Survey
(1/18/2012 Version 7)
Methods:
Field Dates: • January, 2012
Sample Size: • 400 completed interviews within the City of Chico
Sampling Error: • Less than +/- 5.0%
Unit of Analysis: • Voter Households
Population: • All parties
Propensity • + 40
Questionnaire • 40 data points, plus sample demographics
Interview Length • 12 minutes
Sample Vendor • Political Data Inc.
Field Vendor • SSI
Hello, this is _____ of _____, a public opinion research company. We are . . .
• Right Track – Wrong •
1. Would you say that city government in Chico is on the right track, or is the city going in the wrong direction?
01) Right track
02) Wrong direction
03) Undecided / Neither {VOLUNTEERED}
99) Refusal
• 1st Ballot •
2. Business leaders and other members of the Chico community are considering placing a locally controlled one-cent sales tax measure on the ballot. The sales tax would last for 20 years and then sunset. The sales tax would fund a variety of community improvements in areas such as public safety, high school sports, community facilities, libraries and local traffic improvements. If the election were held today, would you vote for or against the locally controlled one-cent sales tax measure?
01) For {GOTO 4}
02) Against {GOTO 3b}
03) Undecided {VOLUNTEERED} {GOTO 3b}
99) Refused
• Follow-UP Ballot •
3b. If the election were held today, would you vote for or against a locally controlled three-fourths-cent sales tax measure?
01) For {GOTO 5}
02) Against {GOTO 3c}
03) Undecided {VOLUNTEERED} {GOTO 3c}
99) Refused
3c. If the election were held today, would you vote for or against a locally controlled one-half-cent sales tax measure?
01) For
02) Against
03) Undecided {VOLUNTEERED}
99) Refused
• Name Identification & Impression •
4. Let me read you some names of people who are active in the community. For each one, please tell me if you have heard of that person. Then, if so, please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of them..
CATEGORIES FOR CODING:
01) Heard/Favorable
02) Heard/Unfavorable
03) Heard/No Opinion
04) Not heard
99) Refusal
{RANDOMIZE ORDER}
4a. Councilman Bob Evans
4b. Councilwoman Mary Flynn
4c. Councilman Scott Gruendl
4d. Councilman Andy Holcombe
4e. Mayor Ann Schwab {MAYOR}
4f. Councilman Mark Sorensen
4g. Vice Mayor Jim Walker {VICE MAYOR}
• Item Block •
5. Now let me read you a list of items that could be partially funded by a locally controlled sales tax measure. For each item please tell me if including that item on the list would make you much more likely, somewhat more likely, somewhat less likely, or much less likely to vote for the measure.
01) Much more likely
02) Somewhat more likely
03) Somewhat less likely
04) Much less likely
05) Undecided {VOLUNTEERED}
99) Refused
{ROTATE ORDER}
5a. Up to 25 new police officers and fire fighters.
5b. A new community and recreation center
5c. A new high school football stadium
5d. Restoring high school sports, theater, music, and industrial arts programs
5e. Chico Library operations.
5f. Bidwell Mansion operations
5g. Bidwell Park Maintenance.
5h. Repairing roads and filling potholes.
5i. Supporting local non-profit organizations.
5j. A new competitive-level community pool.
• Endorsement Block •
6. Now let me read you a list of organizations that might endorse such a sales tax increase. For each organization please tell if their endorsement would make you much more likely, somewhat more likely, somewhat less likely, or much less likely to vote for a sales tax increase.
01) Much more likely
02) Somewhat more likely
03) Somewhat less likely
04) Much less likely
05) Undecided {VOLUNTEERED}
99) Refused
{RANDOMIZE ORDER}
6a. The Chico Chamber of Commerce
6b. Chico Democratic Club
6c. The League of Women Voters
6d. Friends of Bidwell Park
6e. Chico Esplanade League
6f. Former Supervisor Jane Dolan
6g. Supervisor Larry Wahl
6h. Supervisor Maureen Kirk
6i. Sierra Nevada Brewery Owner, Ken Grossman
6j. Former Mayor Michael McGinnis
6k. former City manager Tom Lando
6l. Bidwell Presbyterian Church Pastor Steve Schibstead
6m. Chico Police Officers Association
• Opposition Block •
7. Now I’m going to read you a list of organizations that might oppose such a sales tax increase. For each organization please tell if their opposition would make you much more likely, somewhat more likely, somewhat less likely, or much less likely to vote for a sales tax increase.
01) Much more likely
02) Somewhat more likely
03) Somewhat less likely
04) Much less likely
05) Undecided {VOLUNTEERED}
99) Refused
{RANDOMIZE ORDER}
7a. Butte County Republican Party
7b. Butte County Tea Party
7c. Butte County Taxpayers Association
• Push Block •
8. For the next couple of minutes please listen to some arguments that have been made for and against the measure. For each argument please tell me if it makes you much more, more, less, or much less likely to vote for the measure. If the argument makes no difference either way just say so.
01) Much more
02) More
03) Less
04) Much less
05) No difference / undecided
99) Refused
{RANDOMIZE ORDER}
8a. Supporters argue that government works best and is more accountable to taxpayers when decisions are made locally. Funds generated from a locally controlled sales tax would receive local independent citizen oversight.
8b. Supporters argue that budget cuts have weakened local police and fire staffing and services. Funds generated from a locally controlled sales tax would allow Chico to hire up to 25 new police officers and firefighters to protect our streets and provide essential emergency services to our community.
8c. Supporters argue that years of budget cuts to our schools have led to the elimination of important school programs like art, sports, theater and shop. Funds generated from a locally controlled sales tax will restore and protect many of these important programs for our kids.
8d. Supporters argue that there is no end in sight to future budget cuts. A locally controlled sales tax would generate local funding to protect many of Chico’s most important priorities, including public safety, libraries, and youth and high school programs.
8e. Opponents argue that even local governments have a poor record of providing accountability. We don’t really have any guarantees that revenues from this tax increase will be well spent.
8f. Opponents argue that Public safety and emergency services are essential, but during tough times we need to find more funding for our police with money from non-essential programs. Just like a family living on a budget, we need to move money from non-essential programs to those most critical.
8g. Opponents argue that funding for school programs like art, sports and theater need to come from parents in times like these and should not shouldered by someone without any school-age children who could already be on a fixed income. A sales tax hike will cost everyone more, and while we’d like to replace lost funding, we just can’t afford it.
8h. Opponents argue that Taxpayers are taxed enough already. The taxpayers simply can’t endure more taxes, at least not until the economy improves. For the moment government needs to tighten its belt along with taxpayers.
• 2nd Ballot •
9a. Having heard this information, would you vote for or against the one-cent sales tax measure?
01) For {GOTO 11a}
02) Against {GOTO 10b}
03) Undecided {VOLUNTEERED} {GOTO 10b}
99) Refused
10b. If the election were held today, would you vote for or against the three-fourths-cent sales tax measure?
01) For {GOTO 11a}
02) Against {GOTO10c}
03) Undecided {VOLUNTEERED} {GOTO 10c}
99) Refused
10c. If the election were held today, would you vote for or against the one-half-cent sales tax measure?
01) For
02) Against
03) Undecided {VOLUNTEERED}
99) Refused
• Demographics •
Just a few more questions for statistical purposes . . .
11a. Do you consider yourself {ROTATE ORDER}liberal, somewhat liberal, middle-of-the-road, somewhat conservative, or conservative?
01) Liberal
02) Somewhat liberal
03) Middle-of-the-road
04) Somewhat conservative
05) Conservative
99) Refusal
11b. Thinking about how you vote, do you usually vote {ROTATE} mainly Republican, mainly Democrat, or about the same for each party?
01) Mainly Republican
02) About same for each
03) Mainly Democrat
99) Refusal
11c. Please stop me when I read the age group that contains your age…
01) 18-34
02) 35-44
03) 45-54
04) 55-64
05) 65-74
06) 75+
99) Refused
11d. How long have you lived in Chico: less than 5 years, 5 to 10 years, 11 to 20 years, or more than 20 years?
01) Less than 5
02) 5-10
03) 11-20
99) 20+
11e. Do you own or rent your home or apartment?
01) Own
02) Rent
99) Refusal
11f. Do you have any children that attend Chico public schools?
01) Yes
02) No
99) Refusal
This has been a confidential interview conducted by… Thank you very much for your time and have a good evening.
11g. Sex {BY OBSERVATION}
01) Male
02) Female
11h. Vote propensity {FROM SAMPLE}
11i. VBM – poll voter {FROM SAMPLE}
11j. Median neighborhood household income {FROM SAMPLE}
11k. Cell phone – land line {FROM SAMPLE}
Chico Taxpayers Association 