Chico Taxpayers Association

You saw it on the news, “your tax dollars at work,” they finally open the road – it’s a piece of crap!

Last night, my husband and I did something we haven’t done in a long time – we went out at night. We haven’t been out in Chico for years – the atmosphere has gotten very unpleasant. All our favorite restaurants have closed. Downtown is a crime scene. And then you have the drunks! Who wants to be a statistic?

But last night some cousins of mine were driving to town for a high school basketball game on the South End of town, so we drove over to say Hello. Great game, I saw my teenage cousin for the first time – I picked her out of the crowd, because she looked like my grandfather, who also played basketball for the same school. It was fun. We’ll do it again.

It was good to get out, and it took us out to Bruce Road, which we had not used since it was closed for the widening.

First of all, contrary to the signs and what the city of Chico has said, Measure H funds were not a viable part of this job. Most of the money – ask Mike Mangas over at KRCR news – came from federal and state grants that have been in place for almost 10 years. The city is being dishonest about the amount and use of Measure H funds – maybe Measure H funds paid for the lies on those signs?

Measure H goes into the General Fund, and despite claims of “accounting” for these funds, we only have reports from the Finance Department. They can do whatever they want with money in the General Fund. It’s like pouring a glass of water into Chico Creek and telling people you know where that glass of water went.

Okay, you know you love this one – here’s Richard Lewis describing how the city of Chico spends money.

So let’s get back to Bruce Road. As soon as we rolled onto the new surface, on a new set of tires we just bought in October, we felt like we were on a dirt road crossing the canyon in an old stage coach. Bump-bump-bump-bump-bump! The surface of the road is riddled with bumps and lumps. The cement was not properly poured. My husband, a contractor who has been on major jobsites all over Chico, remarked that they must have poured it on the hottest day of the year. Thinking back, that’s when they poured it – when we had triple digits. Temperature and humidity really matter when you pour concrete.

The city uses the same contractor for all these jobs. They don’t use the top-rated concrete company in town, they make and set their own cement. Cement is an important job that needs to be done right, by a company that ONLY does cement. Instead the city goes cheap-ass with a construction company that makes it’s own cement. CHEAP-ASS!

As we bounced along the road, I heard Neil Young, warbling along – “It’s a piece of crap…”

With video of the carnage going on in and around Los Angeles on the news every morning, I heard today on The National Desk that the feds are threatening to cut emergency funding until the state legislature gets a better plan for fire control/prevention.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said “State and local officials were derelict in their responsibilities”. People are calling for the resignations of both Governor Newsom and LA mayor Karen Bass. I would like to add a few names to that list: Chico City Manager Mark Sorensen, Chico Parks and Natural Resources Manager Linda Herman, and Public Works Director Erik Gustafson. As well as the CAO of Butte County and the Public Works Director.

I don’t care about Bass – that’s LA’s problem. But after the Camp Fire, Governor Newsom promised to add to the Cal Fire fire prevention teams – that never materialized. He did nothing to help LaMalfa pass his Fix Our Forests bill . Likewise, neither Butte County nor the City of Chico have done anything about major fire hazards within their jurisdictions, despite major fires over the last 7 years that have caused evacuations. The city of Chico left dead vegetation and standing dead trees in Bidwell Park after the Stony Fire (2018) and refused to take a proactive stance against illegal activities in the park.

Butte County board of supervisors recently rejected plans to clear brush from or improve Doe Mill Road, denying that it is a designated fire evacuation route. Then why were people directed by law enforcement to use that road to get out of the Park Fire evacuation zones? It was a major route out of the Camp Fire, along with Garland Road. Both Doe Mill and Garland are so narrow in sections that two way traffic is nearly impossible. The surfaces of these roads make it dangerous for sedans. Brush lines miles of roadway – imagine driving through burning brush on a one lane dirt road with a conga line of hysterical evacuees right behind you.

How can we force changes to Chico policies? Call for the resignations of Sorensen, Herman, as well as Butte County CAO Andy “Maximo” Pickett and Works Director Joshua Pack. These people are derelict in their duties. Email your city and county district “leaders” and tell them they’re next if they don’t start hiring some better people at more rational salaries.

And when they tell you they don’t have the money, ask your county supervisor where they where they got $57 million for their latest pension bond payment. Chico’s annual payment has reached $18 million. That’s where your infrastructure funding has gone.

Time to GET MAD folks, GET REALLY MAD, and channel your anger at those who are the problem – your government officials.

Last week I posted the “Butte County Pension-Obligation-Bond-Payment-Strategy-Summary” You may recall, the county signed onto two pension obligation bonds in 2004 with the specific purpose of using debt to pay debt – like taking out a new credit card to pay your old credit card. County staff and supervisors told us they would make enough money off these bonds to both pay the debt service on the bonds AND make larger payments toward the pension deficit. They told us they would save money because the bond rate was lower than the rate CalPERS is charging us for the pension deficit.

But you see here

https://chicotaxpayers.com/2024/10/24/whats-the-real-reasoning-behind-butte-county-measure-h-a-billion-dollar-budget-with-57-million-year-in-pension-bond-payments-projected-by-2030/

that since they instituted the POB, the pension deficit has ROCKETED. “In June 2024, the Chico Enterprise-Record reported that Butte County’s pension deficit was growing and that the budgeted payment for the year was about $18 million. The deficit grew by $28 million over the 2021-22 period.”

Grew $28 million? That’s their plan? Wow, that’s some “strategizing” they’re doing over in O-ville.

How did that happen? Ask your county supervisor why they raise their own salaries every year. And read this again –

Life keeps me busy, but when I found this item through a search for the Butte County Pension Obligation Bond I thought you might be interested in taking a read. This bond was passed illegally (without voter approval) in 2004. These notes are verbatim except for my note in RED typeface. Read more at the following link.

https://www.buttecounty.net/DocumentCenter/View/1551/Pension-Obligation-Bond-Payment-Strategy-Summary-PDF

The County’s POB 2004 Series A issued for $28.02 million are taxable fixed rate
bonds with annual principal payments, which started on June 1, 2014 and
continue through June 1, 2034. The bonds have an interest rate of 5.408%
through fiscal year 2023-24 and an interest rate of 6.076% from fiscal year 2024-
25 through maturity.
The County’s POB 2004 Series B issued for $21.875 million are taxable variable
rate bonds with annual mandatory sinking fund principal payments, which started
on June 1, 2014 and continue through June 1, 2034. The bonds’ variable rate is
set monthly at London Interbank Overnight Rate (LIBOR) plus 30 basis points.

NOTE: THEY LATER SECURED A FIXED RATE, but at a higher rate. Read below.

PENSION BOND PAYMENT STRATEGY
On January 10, 2012 at the recommendation of the Finance Work Team and KNN,
the Board adopted a payment strategy for the POBs that maintained a consistent
percent of payroll charges to department budgets with a five year ramp up to
approximately 3% of payroll. The strategy also included a provision for the
County to annually revisit the strategy to update the balances and rates and
determine if a pre-payment plan for Series B has become advantageous. The
initial ramp up and projected payroll collections rates were as follows:

Projected Payroll Collection Rates
Fiscal Year Total % of Payroll Miscellaneous Rate Safety Rate
2012-2013 2.00% 1.70% 3.41%
2013-2014 2.25% 1.89% 4.06%
2014-2015 2.50% 2.10% 4.51%
2015-2016 2.75% 2.31% 4.96%
2016-2017 3.08% 2.58% 5.54%
(through 2034)

In 2020 the County refunded the Series B Pension Obligation Bonds as
historically low interest rates gave the County an opportunity to negotiate new
terms with the holder of the Series B bonds for a fixed rate of 1.17% and
prepaid $9.5 million; thus eliminating the variable interest rate risk over the
remaining loan term.

NOTE: THEY USED CAMP FIRE SETTLEMENT FUNDS TO DO THIS

Department payroll collections for the Series A and new refunded bonds debt
service will average approximately 2.36% of payroll per year for the remaining
terms of the bonds (2034 for series A and 2029 for the newly issues bonds). The
collection rate for the Series A and refunded bonds is projected to average
2.58% until the refunded bonds mature in 2029 and decrease to 2.00%
thereafter, until the Series A bonds mature in 2034. Since FY 2012-13, the
average department collections rate has also been 2.36% of payroll

NOTE: here’s a September article about a supreme court decision about legality of bonds without voter approval

https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/article_b7cc3e12-7204-11ef-8619-23e5ee66e138.html