The other night council and friends divvied up a pot of “extra” money they found in the couch cushions – not really! It’s extra money from all the new housing property tax receipts. You know, they keep saying they need to build affordable housing, but none of the new stuff is going for less than $300,000. I was looking at rentals online the other day and noticed there’s been another subtle but firm increase in rent. Even Paradise is getting a little pricey. So yeah, property tax revenues are going up, up, up, and staff rubs their hands together and comes up with ways to get it into their pockets.
You can look at their entire wish list, and see how they avoid making street repairs, on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting (10/16/18), and you can watch the video – please do! You won’t believe how frank they are about wanting to tax your ass off.
They’re stealing our money, wake up and write a letter to the editor, I did. Don’t just lay there taking a screwing, say something!
This year the city of Chico received nearly $2.5 million in General Fund “net income” – new revenues from increases in property and bed tax receipts.
City policy, dictated by staff and rubber stamped by council, allows staff to subjectively assign this money to various funds. Staff came up with their own list of priorities, including $250,000 for their Pension Stabilization Trust. Another $25,000 goes to a voter survey, to “engage political consultants to determine the willingness of voters to support a tax measure.”
None of the money, over half of which came from taxes on our homes, will be used for street repairs. They told us the garbage tax would go to fix our streets, but the city manager has made two attempts to redirect that money to pay salaries and pensions unrelated to street maintenance.
We have over fed Blue Jays running our town. People who make in excess of $200,000 a year, expecting the majority who live on less than $45,000 a year to pay pensions of 70 to 90% of these crazy salaries. Meanwhile our streets go without maintenance and city “leaders” spend another $25,000 to convince us we need to pay more taxes if we actually expect service.
Anyone who has lived in Chico for more than five years should look around themselves and ask the question, what’s wrong with this picture? I see a greedy, bloated management staff who need to get out in favor of young people who will take rational salaries and pay their own pension freight.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
I think if you ask most residents the priority would be more police and fixing the roads. It seems that the city management doesn’t see it that way.
Orme wants to use the garbage money to fund the “street crimes” unit – I find that absurd. Why do we need special units? Can’t they all just do their jobs everywhere? They are too entitled, we’ll never have enough cops.
But they’ve admitted they are giving special treatment to new subdivisions while folks in old subdivisions get no service. That ought to outrage people.