I wrote a letter to the paper in response to Stephanie Taber’s suggestion of raising sales tax to support salaries and benefits Downtown, it ran yesterday, now it’s gone! You have to know it was there and search it! How LOW will they GO?
That’s how Dave Little treats people he doesn’t agree with, he just squelches their letters. He’s a very “Little” man, his testicles have to be put in the microwave every morning.
So, I ain’t proud – here’s the link:
http://www.chicoer.com/opinion/20170720/letter-chico-government-cant-be-trusted-with-tax-increase
And here’s the letter:
A letter writer has suggested a sales tax increase to “fix a couple of major roads a year”.
Chico has reached financial crisis because of employee overcompensation. In 2013, third-party auditors found a $15 million deficit. Council cut workers and services, while raising management compensation to unprecedented levels. By October of 2016 we were one of six cities in California being investigated for fraud, having exhausted our emergency fund and outspent revenues for six years.. We are still on the state’s “watch list”.
To avoid further audit, staff cooked up an “aggressive” repayment plan, purporting to raise employees’ share of compensation costs. But the increased shares came with salary increases that more than covered the new CalPERS shares. According to publicpay.gov, the city now has a $180 million deficit and will soon be paying more than a million a year to beat it down.
According to California Policy Center, “As Chico recovers, new development projects have been downsized to reflect the city’s long-term financial reality.” Staff has spent all the money on management pensions and benefits, there’s no money left for road base, asphalt, or qualified workers needed to fix the roads.
Proponents of a tax increase measure say the money will be dedicated to the roads – don’t believe it. Staff has instituted a “fund allocation” policy – they move money from one fund to another like peas under walnut shells.
Juanita Sumner, Chico CA
It’s sad to me that we have such poor media here, Dick Little and Melissa Dogtree are just government shills. We have a council that plays lackey to the staffers who are ripping us off because all but one member of our council either get public pensions or are married to one.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
As I recall Juanita, the Enterprise Wretched endorsed Measure J, the cell phone tax. They also endorsed both school bonds in the last election. I’m not surprised Little would want to squelch your opinion.
You’re right, I just saw it online. The city cried foul when that was voted down, and still complains about it. In 2012 they said they were losing $900,000 a year from the defeat of that tax – that’s a drop in the bucket compared to their $180 million pension deficit!