I was laying the Sunday ER (3/15) under my cat dishes when I noticed a letter from Bill Smith, asking about the sewer bill and the pensions. Short and to the point!
Before I start paying three times my current sewer bill, I would like to take a look at the current city employees’ salaries, what their anticipated retirement will be, and what already retired city employees are drawing in retirement. Where can I see this? — Bill Smith, Chico
Thanks Bill, good questions. I’ll answer here. It took Wolcott 10 days to print my last letter, sent on the 14th, even though I saw letters that had obviously been written AFTER mine, and printed within a day or two. Neither Wolcott or his usual pile of dipshits bothered to answer Bill Smith. The paper is in trouble, but I’m going to continue to send letters, please do same.
Bill Smith (3/15) asked about city salaries, anticipated pensions, and what retirees are already drawing in retirement. He asked where he could get this information.
Both sites depend on public agencies, like the city of Chico, to provide this information. Because of delays in compliance, the figures are two years out of date, but accurate. You will find records dating back years, with annual salary increases, as well as benefits packages and total compensation.
Transparent California also figures the employee’s personal pension deficit, using pay and years of service. Employees pay between 5 and 11% toward their own pensions (70 – 90% of their highest year’s pay), the rest rides on the market and ends up on the backs of the taxpayers.
Please come to chicotaxpayers.com to join the conversation.
I was looking into the proposed sewer rate increase for Chico and I found a discussion on Redditt that indicated people are pretty pissed off. I had read about a proposed 65% increase, but at last week’s meeting, they were saying like a 400% increase. We’re looking at the average customer paying almost $100 a month for sewer service. I knew that sewer “rate mechanism change” would be bad. This is what the real cost of living is about – you can’t just build more housing, you have to consider all the other costs.
I have believed for a long time that city leaders just want working class people out of town. One council and staff after another have tried to turn Chico – starting with Downtown – into a Destination! High-end restaurants, outdoor dining, now alcohol allowed outside – that’s not a family atmosphere, and the only working people they want Downtown are table waiters, bartenders, and cashiers.
Shop owners are leaving in droves, citing the parking kiosks, but I think that was just the last nail in the coffin. For years downtown businesses have been paying higher rent for less services, even while paying into a protection racket known as the Downtown Business Association. Remember when “Community Development Director” Leo DePaola was sticking Downtown businesses with rapacious fines for vandalism caused by transients?
Wait until they gut the streets for the sewer job. And if you have a minute, read the reports – there really are “secret tunnels” under Downtown, only not for opium dens, but for utilities, and for those old delivery elevators that used to open up down into the basements of various businesses. I’ve actually seen those used. These “tunnels” don’t all connect, and some of them are flooded. Last I heard the city isn’t even sure where they all are.
City of Chico officials and employees think of the rest of us as cash cows. They want us to pay for a mess they’ve been massaging for years, demanding more money from the taxpayers, just to feather their own nests, while they kick the poop can down the road.
So I wrote a letter about it!
After I sent my last letter, I received an agenda for the March 5 Finance Committee meeting. I was unable to attend, but heard later they are discussing a much higher sewer rate increase than I had read in a previous report.
City leaders like to talk about making housing more affordable, whether it’s rentals or private homes, but they fail to discuss the reality – just because a person can get a house, doesn’t mean they will be able to afford all of the associated costs. We’ve all watched PG&E and Cal Water rates rise steadily over the past 20 years, and now the city is sticking their thumb in the pie with their sewer rate increases.
Not to mention, a 5% tax on Cal Water and PG&E bills, as well as franchise taxes on PG&E and Comcast. They also have a franchise deal with the garbage companies.
These costs directly affect the cost of housing.
Where will the money go? Think you’ll see any work in your neighborhood? The Pension Stabilization Trust takes a percentage from every city fund to make the CalPERS deficit payment – will the sewer fund be exempt from the “catch-up” payments?
Gotta go to Oroville this week. Property taxes are due next month, and no, I don’t trust USPS anymore. And, my husband needs to fix his voter registration – when he renewed his driver’s license recently, carefully checking the box indicating he did not wish to fill out the voter registration section, the DMV changed his voter registration address to our neighbor’s house. Thankyouverymuch!
Similar thing happened two years ago when I renewed my license. And we both got the same response from the county clerk, asking us to verify the information. I went to the clerk’s office to make sure it was fixed and my husband wants to do same. No, we don’t trust these people, and if you do, you should sleep on your stomach.
I like a trip to Oroville, really good coffee/pastry shop, good thrift shops and – Holy Crap Bat Mom – FREE PARKING! But this time we’re going to spend some time over at Surplus City, my husband will probably have to drag me out of there, they have so much cool stuff. And no worries about feeding the meter.
Ray Schimmel reminded me how stupid is the concept of paying for parking, on public streets, to shop at businesses that already pay taxes on that property. Meanwhile, you park free in every other retail district in Chico, oftentimes in private parking lots on which the owner pays substantial property tax.
Kick that around in the old noggin a minute – you should have seen the look on a Raley’s manager’s face when I asked him if that was true, that slow realization, like an egg spreading across his forehead. Yes, the big “box” stores, as well as the malls, pay property taxes on those “free” parking lots, and they make them available for you, AT NO CHARGE, so you can shop in their stores. Collective head slap folks – DUH!
So, why in the hell should we have to pay to park Downtown, and furthermore, put up with the inconvenience and several pointy questions regarding the kiosks? More jedi mind tricks from Chico City Council. So I wrote a letter about it!
Thanks Ray Schimmel, for your letter (2/22/26). The kiosks are a mistake that has caused unfortunate consequences for an entire business sector, with ramifications for the whole town.
It should not be surprising that citywide sales tax revenues are falling below projections. It’s pretty obvious that all of Chico is leaking retail. Whatever the reason, that’s a real problem – fifty-two percent of city funding comes from sales tax.
Staff also reports that salaries and the pension deficit are the chief budget concerns at this time. Nevertheless, city council just approved another round of salary increases, without asking more rational contributions from employees. They’re driving up the pension deficit, like horses pulling a burning wagon.
Meanwhile, Council ponders total replacement of Downtown sewer lines. – how do they plan to pay for that? With a 65% increase in EVERYBODY’S sewer rates, effective this year. They already spent the millions received in Camp Fire relief and American Rescue Funding, on who knows what.
Councilmembers Van Overbeek, Reynolds and Winslow are up for reelection. Van Overbeek has asked how the pension deficit keeps cycling up, but defends raising salaries. All three have signed the contracts without questioning the employee contributions. None of them seem to understand our fiscal situation. The pension deficit needs to be brought into the conversation in this election. Ask your candidate about it, and wait for their answer. It would take guts to stand up to the employee unions, since they make the biggest contributions in every city election.
Juanita Sumner, Chico ca
UPDATE: From the agenda report for tomorrow’s Finance Committee meeting – sewer rate increase!
The City’s Sewer Enterprise faces significant financial challenges. Two primary financing approaches have been presented to the Finance Committee to support long-term Sewer Enterprise sustainability. Both approaches relied on cash-funded rate adjustments. Option 1: Large Year 1 Increase – Collects more revenue early, reducing total five-year impact Option 2: Incremental Increases – Smooths customer impact but results in higher rates by Year 5
Tonight Chico City Council will most likely approve more salary increases for Chico PD and Fire. Trying to follow up on suggestions of outsourcing other positions to pay for these raises, I just happened to find a November article in the Chico News and Review. The author paraphrased a blog I posted regarding the effect these raises are having on the deficit, of which CouncilmemberTom Van Overbeek only recently seems to have become aware of.
“The Chico Taxpayer Association maintains that contracts with city workers should have obligated them to pay for more of their own retirement costs, and that Van Overbeek’s motion is irresponsible from a conservative point of view. On its website it asks the councilmember: “You have signed onto contracts offering guaranteed raises and abysmally low shares of benefits costs without wondering where the money would come from to pay for these raises, or what effect the raises and underpayments would do to our CalPERS obligation. Why didn’t you ask these questions during the Measure H campaign?”
Wow, he included a response from VOB, but it’s not exactly an answer.
Van Overbeek answered that 2022’s Measure H sales tax increase primarily funded a police force “that was literally melting down,” and not intended for the UAL. “We said we were going to spend the money on cops and roads,” he said.
In this response, he does not engage the question about making employees pay more, he doesn’t even touch it. He refuses to engage the question about more employees and more raises without requiring higher shares is increasing the deficit. He also insinuates that the measure promised Measure A revenues would be used to fund “cops and roads” – it’s not legal to list specific uses for a “simple” 50+1 ballot measure. He also insists that Measure A funds are not being used to pay down the deficit – how can he promise that? Simple measures go into the General Fund.
Sacramento CN&R Author Ken Magri misstates the deficit payments at $7 million a year. That is way off, I’m pretty sure he got that figure from Artificial Intelligence. The city paid $18 million in 2023, I haven’t checked lately, but I know they go up every year. By millions. I get my figures from staffer Barbara Martin’s reports, available in the minutes from the Finance Committee Meetings.
Yes Mr. VOB, the cops are still melting down. The over-generous salaries are not getting “better” people, as evidenced in the recent revelations about police department inappropriate behavior. These salaries are tanking our town. When will they learn? When they get their ass handed to them at election time, that’s when.
After my last letter a friend asked, “Why is it only the taxpayers are on the hook for the unfunded pension liability?”
It’s in the contracts. Council agrees to the terms regarding salary and benefits. Council also approves the inadequate shares employees are paying toward their benefits, which has left the city wandering deeper and deeper into pension debt with CalPERS.
Year after year, Council approves the increasing annual payments toward the resulting pension deficit – $18 million in 2023 alone. Despite millions in “catch-up” payments, the deficit continues to rise, at last report, over $180 million.
And that’s how the taxpayers get left on the hook. How can we get off?
Elect council members who will negotiate taxpayer-friendly contracts. Employees should shoulder their own pensions. Instead of allowing the pension deficit to “ride the market” down the road to Perdition, set up realistic defined contributions from employees, based on the true cost of their pensions instead of Pollyanna market projections. The taxpayer (“employer”) contribution should be based on merit and length of service. Employees should be responsible for the losses as well as the gains.
Outsource jobs? The city culled positions in 2013, but here we are again. It’s the contracts.
You brought up a lot of important points about public employee compensation. The lush salaries and benefits are not conducive to good work ethic. Instead of promising sky’s-the-limit salary and benefits off the top, Council needs to offer a reasonable starting salary and set specific metrics for performance, future salary increases and long-term benefits. And other stuff, thanks for keeping the conversation going!
You observed and I agree, “The lack of accountability and the lack of responsibility in jobs where a fixed salary is present generates a much different work ethic than incentive based compensation plans in the private sector . ” I’ll add, defined benefits plans – employer-sponsored retirement plans that promise a specific, predetermined monthly income for life after retirement, regardless of performance, and regardless of our town’s financial well being. This type of employee compensation is not only tanking our town financially, but like you said, it’s not an efficient way of guaranteeing quality performance.
A better system would be defined contributions plans. Meaning, essentially, the employees pay more for their benefits, and they shoulder the responsibility when CalTRANS tanks. I don’t pertend to be a expert in these affairs but I been studying up on it. I really don’t trust city management to give me straight answers, I look it up on The Wikipedia.
BC echoed a sentiment I’ve had for years, “Why is it only the taxpayers are on the hook for the unfunded pension liability? I believe it’s because the biggest contributors in the city council elections are the employee unions. That’s another conversation, but it has to be had before we will get any changes in the compensation scam.
I’ll say, if we had good employees, they wouldn’t be feathering their nests with all of our future. Why do we put up with it? Because we have our jobs, and our kids, and our bills to pay. We need to take some time to think about these issues so we can make informed contributions to the conversation Downtown. Especially at Election Time.
Next time, on “This Old Lady Gets the Bill… and so do YOU!”
When I heard Mark Sorensen is going to retire as of June, I realized that the dipshits on city council will be hiring a new city manager over the next four or five months. These people don’t have bargaining skills, they are too quick to give away the store. Historically, the city of Chico has always paid new hires more than the departing manager, for some dumb reason. Which, of course, raises the rest of the department head salaries all the way around, and hey, look out for that pension deficit increase.
I would think, the smarter thing to do would be to hire at a lower salary, with a reasonable promise of raises to come for a job well done. But it’s a common argument in the public sector – albeit tired and untrue – that “we” have to keep salaries competitive to attract better people. I always have to ask – and just how has that worked out for you? It sure hasn’t worked regarding Chico PD, horny bastards.
Meanwhile, Redding has hired a new city manager at less salary than their departing manager, with a significantly smaller benefits package (see letter below for the figures). Dave, check my math – I think they’re saving at least 10%, just in salary. I don’t know how this guy will work out, but I think it was smart of them to rein in their salaries, starting at the top. We’ll have to watch that.
Wow, that Tippin guy must have been roofie-ing the council coffee pot – a $589,000 total benefits package?
We’ll have to watch the upcoming conversation about our new city manager. My district reprobate, Mayor Kasey Reynolds, has told me she believes the salaries she and council have offered are reasonable and necessary to attract “good people” – and then she went and hired those pervert cops! And signed their contracts!
With the current political atmosphere, it’s hard to get people to pay attention to the nuts and bolts. So I wrote a letter about it!
In June 2024, Chico City Council granted two automatic pay raises to manager Mark Sorensen and clerk Debbie Presson. Sorensen was making $212,307.28, Presson close on his heels at $190,271.02. Each has received a 5% and a 7% raise over the last year and a half, setting them up for an extravagant retirement paid for by the taxpayers. Sorensen has announced his retirement as of June, and I expect Presson to make the same announcement shortly.
At last October’s Finance Committee meeting, Councilmember Tom van Overbeek commented he was concerned with the recent increase in Chico’s unfunded pension liability – from $117 million to $180 million over a short period – calling it “startling”. Where was his curiosity when he approved those automatic pay increases? The time is now to discuss the effect these outrageous salaries have on our pension liability. City employees pay less than 20% of their own pension cost, with management paying less than 10%. Now the same council that has approved these salary increases will hire a new manager.
Redding recently hired a new manager, with a new salary of $295,000 – a decrease from the former manager salary of $329,979. Will Chico follow Redding’s example, taking this opportunity to reel in the outrageous and ever-increasing pension deficit?
Ask Van Overbeek, Winslow, and Reynolds – they’re all up for re-election, which is when these people are usually most willing to talk.
Thanks to The Dude, for introducing me to Ramin RealTalk.
According to his youtube site, Ramin Ekhtiar is a loan officer located in California. And he’s even more pissed off about the pensions than I am. Go Ramin! Take a minute to listen to his post “They got the pension, you got the bill…”
Yes, I saw that Mark Sorensen is tucking his tail and jumping the ship that he has sailed onto the rocks. He’s been at the head of the ship for years – first, as city council member, then mayor, and finally, a very lucrative jaunt as city manager – very profitable for Mr. Sorensen, not so good for city of Chico. He will retire with 70% of his $211,000+ salary.
Meanwhile, those of us not hooked up to the public teat struggle to keep up with the tax increments, the petty but steady increases in our utility rates, and the ever-increasing “quality of life” crimes and gawdawful traffic. Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a zombie movie.
Speaking of taxes, my husband and I had a heck of a time paying our latest installment of property taxes this year. It’s been a long-time tradition for me to mail our property tax payment the Monday after Thanksgiving. Never had a problem. Until this year. We always use the county website to make sure that our payment has been posted by the tax collector. This year, it just didn’t turn up, didn’t turn up. So when December 10th rolled around, my husband was finally able to contact the office – our check had not arrived, and the employee recommended we just pay it online, with a fee, of course. The county employee said that if they received our check they would send it back to us. (yeah, by way of the same post office…)
She also went on at length about what a pile of shit the post office is these days. Like I need a lecture from some sack of a county worker about how crappy the post office is.
This is asinine. You take your tax payment to the post office and hand it over to the staff, and it still can’t make it to Oroville within a week and a half?
Yes, by jiminy, it’s Christmas – and we ordered our gifts online. When my son’s gift arrived here on December 9th, we realized, the size was way off – our mistake. But Amazon has a great return process. We immediately got busy with the return process, and ordered a new item at the correct size. Wow, maybe Amazon should run the post office – we received the replacement on December 12th. The package we returned was received and posted on our account by the 15th. No fees, no fuss.
Our government is insubordinate. When you look that word up you also get “churlish” – yes, public employees are just plain rooooooood!
In these days of lawlessness and disorder, we have to stick together and hold our position. My position is, I will not spend a taxable dime in Chico, or Butte County. We actually went to Orland last week to do some last minute shopping. Orderly little town, great “antique stores”, felt safe leaving our car on the street. Yes, they have a penny sales tax, but that hardly matters when you are buying tiny trifles at the thrift store. I got some incredible vintage Christmas cards and handmade soap, less than $10. Went to the Farwood Grill and where my husband and I split a ginormous BLT – local bacon, on REAL bread. Picked up 20 lbs of mandarins, small bag of meyer lemons and a $4 dozen eggs at a local farm.
I have been asleep at the wheel. It’s that time of year – leaf management, gutter cleaning, whack and blow, etc etc. And then I got the next council agenda, and I kind of woke up out of a stupor. It was the Finance Committee report from their meeting earlier this month.
Following a presentation from finance manager Barbara Martin, “Councilmember van Overbeek stated he is concerned that the unfunded liability number keeps growing and inquired if all employees are part of CalPERS.” The finance director answered yes. “Councilmember van Overbeek stated the UAL increase from $117 million to $180 million is a startling increase.“
I have to ask, was Van Overbeek elected yesterday? He’s on the finance committee, he never heard about the pension deficit?
Then Van Overbeek suggested outsourcing – yeah, yeah – we’ve heard that conversation about a thousand times, with no results. Sorensen said that outsourcing would cost more money in the long run. Van Overbeek still wanted to pursue it, asking staff to come up with a “breakdown” of all the departments and where there are “opportunities for outsourcing..” Here’s this guy talking about employee costs who doesn’t seem to understand how expensive staff time is, he just expects to snap his fingers and get this stuff. At this point Sorensen did his job – he told van Overbeek that this information was available in the appendix to the city budget that Van Overbeek is supposed to be familiar with.
Tom, you’re a fucking idiot! Time vampire! You have been on council long enough to participate in a number of contract agreements with various employee groups. You have signed onto contracts offering guaranteed raises and abysmally low shares of benefits costs without wondering where the money would come from to pay for these raises, or what effect the raises and underpayments would do to our CalPERS obligation? Why didn’t you ask these questions during the Measure H campaign?
And here’s the question for council and city manager Mark Sorensen – why, when we’ve had this same conversation all the way back to when Brian Nakamura was city manager and Mark Sorensen was on council, we’ve been fully aware of the pension deficit, and none of you have once suggested that employees pay a more rational share of their overly generous benefits.
Instead you’ve tried to foist an illegal Pension Obligation Bond without putting it to a vote of the taxpayers. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association had to put a cease and desist order on that. What’s your plan now?
Chico Taxpayers Association 