I got my mail-in ballot and it was pretty thrilling to fill in the bubble next to NO on Butte County Measure H, the one-cent sales tax. The next day I got this flyer in the mail. I thought it would be fun to talk about it.
Yeah their claims are weak, the usual threats to cut services if they don’t get the tax. But if you look into the budget, available here:
you’ll see MISMANAGEMENT of a BILLION DOLLAR BUDGET. Look at it folks, a ONE BILLION DOLLAR RECOMMENDED BUDGET. Some items that caught my eye, were mentioned in the flyer.
“Maintain 911 Response Times,” and “attract and maintain qualified firefighters, EMT’s and Sheriff’s deputies,” for example. That’s a direct threat to cut our services. Well, here’s my suggestion – manage your staff better. Let’s just look at one page of Transparent California Butte County salaries and benefits.
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/butte-county/
Why does one staff sergeant more than double his regular pay – $114,848 – with $157,467 in overtime? There’s plenty of money in just one man’s compensation package to hire AT LEAST one other staffer. Look further down the page – Control F “sergeant” – just on the first page for Butte County Transparent California, I found five sergeants that make enough in overtime to pay another staffer. And then I noticed other staffers from the sheriff’s office – deputies. They all make enough in overtime to pay another staffer.
Why the hell are we paying these guys to do the work of two officers? How does that help our 911 Response Times?
And all this over-compensation adds up to one hell of a pension deficit. One item you don’t see on the county’s flyer – the amount they pay to service their Pension Obligation Bond – $3,854,000, up from last year by almost $100,000. That’s the amount of money required to pay back the principal and interest on a bond issue. A Pension Obligation Bond is money borrowed to pay money owed to CalPERS. They say they will save money because the bond is at a lower interest rate than the actual CalPERS debt. They also claim to invest the bond proceeds to offset the bond service, but I didn’t find anything about proceeds from those investments. I have to ask – how much are they actually saving? I can’t find a report about that. What I see here, is that those bonds cost upwards of $3 million a year, increasing payments every year, IN ADDITION TO MONEY OWED TO CALPERS. Folks, they just took out a new credit card to pay off their old credit card. Then they went about spending money like they weren’t already in debt, handing out raises every year and creating new positions.
Again, I voted NO on H because these people can’t manage the budget they already gave themselves.
Maybe next time we’ll talk about the $97 MILLION Behavioral Health Department Budget. That’s almost a tenth of the budget to “Address homelessness, mental health and addiction challenges...” A classic case of throwing money at a problem you are not qualified to solve.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
Sorry, you’re ten days too late and about 70,000 votes short. The ballots were mailed out 10 days ago. Measure H(onea) 👮 and Measure C(ool) 😎 have already won in a landslide. Name one person speaking out against these measures except you and a few people in your blog. There was not even any arguments against these measures in the voter guide because no one opposes them.
It’s time for you to stop whining and start figuring out how you will pay your fair share. And figure out how you will pay your fair share after the tax increases in the next election pass, especially after Prop 5 passes in this election.
Oh here it is, a person who uses a fake email, fake name – come on “Susan”, H is going to be a squeaker, one way or the other. I know the propaganda the county paid tax payer money to print and send out, along with staff members using their salaried time to threaten and push this thing through is a pretty strong motivator, but let’s see how it plays out.
And if it passes, you’ll have to get rid of Oregon. Medford is four hours up the freeway, my husband and I just spent a pleasant two days shopping in Medford, and getting new tires on our car. The savings just on the tires paid for a really nice, clean, comfortable hotel room with wifi and cable tv. We went to Walmart and stocked up on months worth of household goods – just the usual soap and sundries, saved enough there for a really nice lunch. In December we’re going back to do our Christmas shopping.
I pay more than my fair share – I pay over $7,000/year in property taxes, what’s your bill look like CheapAss? And can you tell me what “services” I’ve received – the street in front my house looks like it’s been bombed, we have no sidewalks or drainage, where’s the services I’ve “paid my fair share” for?
You’re pretty bad ass behind a computer screen Honey, if you want to trash talk me, you need to use your real name from now on.