Hey Butte County – grow a pair!

Well I’m still waiting for the final news on Measure H, but it looks like it passed. I think we’ve finally reached that threshold where public employees and their hangers-on are the majority of voters in our county. Poor old private sector is in decline in Butte County, particularly the retail sector.

I was shocked at how many tax measures were passed in nearby counties – I think Humboldt County passed TWO. All with promises to rebuild and maintain neglected infrastructure. Maybe you remember this post from 2019

“Key Findings”:  (1) City pension costs will dramatically increase to unsustainable levels, (2) Rising pension costs will require cities to nearly double the percentage of their general fund dollars they pay to CalPERS, and (3) Cities have few options to address growing pension liabilities.“

“few options”? The option that is left off the table is, MAKE EMPLOYEES PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE. Right now, employees pay different percentages, all less than 25%, with management paying the least, even those who are members of the 300K Club.

Instead, the California League of Cities suggests that cities wring the cost of their own pensions and benefits out of the taxpayers by applying an agenda of attrition.

“Change service delivery methods and levels of certain public services: Many cities have already consolidated and cut local services during the Great Recession and have not been able to restore those service levels. Often, revenue growth from the improved economy has been absorbed by pension costs. The next round of service cuts will be even harder.”

If that doesn’t tell you what Measures H were all about, you’re THICK in the head.

Chico is a member of the league, paying increasing annual dues, this year almost $40,000. That doesn’t include the fees for sending our $300,000+ city manager to conferences at some of California’s most exclusive resorts. You can see that Chico management took the league’s advice to heart – look around town. Streets crapped out, sewers lines failing, trees falling onto 100 year old power lines – all the while, Chico’s budget has grown, salaries have gone up, and service has gone by the wayside. The work they did on the south end of town was NOT paid for with Measure H – Mike Mangas reported on Ch 7 news that Measure H funding was only a small part of that road work, most of it was state and federal. The money for the remodel on Mulberry came from Americans with Disability Act funding.

The county of Butte has done same. Last month’s conversation regarding maintenance of Doe Mill/Garland Roads – a very important escape route out of Upper Magalia and Paradise – revealed that the county is not interested in maintaining this road, even though they have the grant funding available to do so.

So what do I expect out of Butte County Measure H? Raises all around – in fact, I bet you my last $5 the supervisors will raise their own salaries by the end of 2025.

In the meantime, Oregon just rejected their government’s attempt at a establishing a sales tax. The measure was written to look like a tax on corporations, “ with the proceeds to go toward tax rebates for individuals”

“Measure 118 would have slapped a 3% tax on businesses’ Oregon sales above $25 million, then divvied up the money raised among the state’s more than 4 million residents, no matter their age.”

Luckily opponents were able to show the voters that this tax would obviously worm it’s way down to consumers. Just like any sales tax, everybody pays it. Do you really expect commercial businesses to be run like charities? You think they will pay a tax on raw materials, shipping, employee costs, packaging, more shipping, then retail – the tax applies to every step in the chain, 3%+3%+3%… And I got news for you – that will end up on the final tab, and you pay that.

Well, the Oregonians figured that out, and they not only rejected Measure 118, they kicked the shit out of it – over 78% of the voters said HELL NO – GET YOUR FUCKING HAND OUT OF MY PURSE!

So you know, I love California, the actual state, and a lot of the actual residents, but I shop in Oregon now. Medford is only 4 hours up the road, and it lays between the Oregon Coast and the Cascades – if you never tried a vacation in Oregon, you’re missing out. And it’s so much cheaper than vacationing and traveling in California, it’s not even funny. Starting with the price of gas – I think we paid $3.84 for Premium on our last trip up. We also got tires for our work truck – the savings on that paid for the hotel room. A trip to Winco – some stuff was actually cheaper, and then there’s no sales tax on stuff like toilet paper and soap.

See, there’s the thing – we found everyday products, and FOOD, cheaper in Oregon because they don’t have sales tax on every step in the supply chain. California does – and then Newsom’s gas penalty. That’s what it is, Newsom wants to penalize people to driving. He wants to be the governor that got us out of our cars, even if that tanks our economy.

So, excuse me if I don’t have much use for Chico voters, or Butte County voters. I consider the people who voted Yes on both measures H to be PUSSIES. Hey Butte County – GROW A PAIR!