Chico Taxpayers Association

Right now you will find hundreds of houses and apartments for rent in Chico, hundreds more for sale – there is no “housing shortage” in Chico. The real issue is affordability, not availability, and building more houses has never brought down the price.

So, I believe, people who tell you there is a housing shortage in Chico, 1) have land they are trying to sell 2) have a political agenda they are trying to realize 3) have drank the Kool Aid handed out by either 1 or 2.

It is a fact that building new housing on the edges of your town creates Blight. While “suburbanization” and “sprawl” have long been agreed upon as causing Blight of interior parts of a town, we blame the people who buy the housing instead of the city that permits it, and then devotes more funding to maintaining newer neighborhoods than older established neighborhoods. Why? Because as houses age, they don’t generate as much property taxes as new neighborhoods, end of story. It doesn’t seem to matter that those residents have been paying, and paying, and paying, the employees Downtown demand more and more revenue to pay their exorbitant salaries and benefits. Fees for development projects, or even a simple hook-up to sewer, are based not on what they actually cost, but on as many salaries as can be allocated into them as possible. Here’s just one post I made about the allocation process, as explained by a consultant who was paid for by the taxpayers.

So, I was interested when I read a letter to the ER about infill. We used to hear a lot about infill housing, but it seemed to have dried up. I never felt it was done right – a bunch of houses, shoe-horned into a flag lot in somebody’s back yard – parking problems, drainage problems, and then on trash day so many cans on the street it’s actually dangerous. Poorly done sewer hook-ups with no proper street repair. A sidewalk that extends across the entrance to the new developement and then drops off 6 inches into a pit. Infill can be done better, and done so that it is a benefit to the neighborhood instead of a detraction.

So I wrote a letter about it. Let me know what you think.

I’d also like to hear more about infill, but not because I believe there is a housing shortage. I believe that before we build out into cattle pastures and flood plains, we should fix older, decaying neighborhoods. While new neighborhoods spring up in orchards and pastures on the edge of town, historic neighborhoods suffer from pitted streets, flooding, no sidewalks, old power lines hanging in overgrown trees, and 20th century phone and internet service.

I don’t think we need to “streamline” the permits process, we need to hold infill developments up to the standards the surrounding neighborhood was built with. We need to maintain traditional parking requirements so we don’t have streets so crowded with cars that traffic (including pedestrians, bikes and safety vehicles) is constricted. We should not let ourselves be talked into sub-par housing based on a perceived housing shortage. We should build for the market, not political agendas or profiteering investors.

There are things the city could do to motivate the type of small infill projects that should rejuvenate our older neighborhoods and provide good housing. For starters, lower the fees for sewer/drain hook-ups, sidewalks, lot splits, ground work and other basic permits needed to ready a lot for development/sale to a developer. These fees are currently based on allocations for bureaucratic costs that have nothing to do with development.

We could do better.

Happy Thanksgiving? Are you grateful?

Here’s what I’m grateful for – 12 years with Chico Taxpayers Association. My first blog post from 2012.

Notice, if you check the new link, Lando’s pension jumped almost $15,000 in the last year – that’s because he is still working, for Paradise Irrigation District. Yes, Lando has continued to collect retirement while working for various public agencies, like the city of Oroville rec district and PID. That also raises his retirement costs, of which he pays almost nothing. In fact, he paid NOTHING as a City of Chico employee – Chico management paid nothing until Brian Nakamura took the reins in 2012, instituting a 3% share for management.

That’s right, 3% for 70% of their highest year’s salary. Plus COLA. Through constant pressure we’ve managed to get them to pay more, but it’s still less than 10% of cost.

So see, there’s the little victories. Teeny, tiny victories. Just think if more of you pitched in!

Stop sleeping on your stomach and complaining about your sore asses Folks. Wake the hell up. Next time you see Tom Lando at the grocery store tell him he should pay for your groceries. Be nice, but let him know, you know what he’s doing, and you don’t like it.

Wow, Butte County went with Trump, but passed a sales tax measure in a landslide. Chico’s got two new liberals on board, and one district divided by less than 100 votes. Whatever the future holds, it will be interesting.

I got an pertinent comment from BC – noting the return of the financial pit known as Chico Ice Rink, he opines that Chico voters keep voting the way they do because “It’s not bad enough yet.“

Pointing to abysmal performance of our school district, he observes, “but you don’t see a massive concerned parent group rising up. ” To which I will respond – most of the parents are products of the same education system. People are so poorly educated these days they don’t even understand how they are being screwed, and they certainly don’t know what to do about it. I took my kids out of school, that worked for us, but most families don’t have that option. Then there are the taxpayers who don’t have kids in the system but suffer the consequences of higher taxes that don’t do any good.

BC predicts, “10 years from now, these underperforming students will have no chance of earning a living that will allow them to start families or save or invest. But by that time, they will be fully prepared for the soul crushing low-rent lifestyle that plagues middle and lower income California.” The long term result – higher crime rates, domestic violence, and disease caused by poor diet and general lifestyle choices. All of us will pay one way or another.

But Chico is almost a haven for those escaping the bigger, nastier cities. “The cost of living and the cost of taxes are through the roof compared better run municipalities. but Chico is still half the price of living in the Bay Area or Los Angeles.”

The lobster pot is not as hot here in Chico, so they are lulled into a false sense of comfort. The end result – “Death by a thousand cuts: a slow slide into the abyss.”

Yes, that’s what I’ve been documenting here for over 10 years now. And I’ve asked myself, as I know BC has asked himself same about a thousand times – what does it take to get people to get off their asses and do something besides complain?

Well, as BC mentions, there is a steady conga-line out of state. A simple search listed a couple hundred thousand a year beating it out to other states. What a bunch of losers!

Well I’m not leaving, but I’m not going to sit here being a cash cow either. Yes, my current form of protest is BOYCOTT. It’s more fun than you’d think – my husband and I call it Shop-cation. It’s a nice way to break up the work week. Yesterday we made a quick day-trip – during our lunch break – to a nearby town, where we were shocked how much cheaper the groceries are.

For example, we found pints of gorgeous fat blueberries for $2.50 – a fruit that is currently in season but not available at Chico stores for less than $7/pint. All the produce was cheaper, same brand products for dollars less than the same stuff in Chico stores. If you could find it in Chico – the quality of produce at Chico Winco is very disappointing, and higher prices at Raley’s and Safeway don’t guarantee better quality.

And here’s a stinger – gas was also cheaper. No, not Oregon cheap, but almost a dollar cheaper for premium than Chico gas stations. And you don’t have to worry about getting shot or stabbed!

We also make regular purchases online. Here’s the thing – we are either buying products we can’t find at Chico stores, or we’re paying so much less, the sales tax taking is not a factor. Hey, Chico retailers, you need to ask yourselves how this new sales tax increase is working for you. We’ve patronized old Chico businesses for years, but when we found out how they were gouging us for stuff like dog food and hardware supplies, we went online and found the same products for so much less the local sales tax doesn’t even register.

Are you a lobster? Well, get the hell out of the pot.

I heard Joe Rogan on the news the other day, asking all of us to just get along, and I realized – I’ve got Election Fatigue!

It’s no fun watching the political pundits on tv anymore. For months now I’ve had my coffee and a good laugh watching the morning news. This election was kind of fun and exciting. Now that it’s over, there’s the task of actually fixing the country. That’s so boring.

If I was Don Trump, this would be an “oh, shit…” kind of moment. “What did I get myself into… “, I’d be asking right now. Don says he has a plan. He’s busier than Santa Claus.

Something I never heard discussed during this election – even during discussions of the National Debt – was the federal pension deficit. How much of the national debt is simply pension liability? A Google search provides the following information.

“As of June 2024, the US has $1.34 trillion in unfunded pension liabilities, which is the amount that is not covered by pension plans. This number has been over $1 trillion since 2008.

“Interest continues to accrue on unfunded liabilities, which is the fastest growing contributor to pension debt.  

Yes, pension liability is a giant part of the national debt. “Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections – The CBO projects that the federal budget deficit will grow to $2.8 trillion by 2034.“

As for California, “Different states have varying levels of pension funding issues, with some like California having particularly large unfunded liabilities.”

And what does this mean to the taxpayers? “Unfunded pension liabilities can have a number of impacts, including: Increased class sizes, Cuts to health services and extracurricular activities, Potential tuition increases, and Increased burden on taxpayers.”

Speaking of increased burden, according to the Legislative Analysts Office, “Since its post-pandemic peak in September 2022, California’s private sector has lost a net 154,000 jobs (1.2 percent) while the public sector has gained 361,000 jobs (7 percent).

We’ve talked about this in Chico, new management positions created with salaries in excess of $100,000/year. Management pay the lowest contribution toward their own benefits. I’m guessing this is the trend all over the US, city, county, state and federal.

President Trump and several of his appointees have talked about downsizing the government. Oh sure, talk is cheap, let’s see The Plan.

Or we might have to hire the A Team.

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!

Sheesh, I hate election districts – for a town this size, it’s literally divisive. Here’s the thing – all seven members of Chico City Council are allowed to make decisions on what happens in my district, so why am I only allowed to vote for one of them? The folks who threatened to sue said districts would prevent discrimination? You mean, it’s easier for a person to get elected, qualified or not, when there’s only about 5,000 votes at stake? In a town of over 100,000 persons who are directly affected by the actions of council, a candidate can get into office with less than 3,000 votes. That’s not representation, it’s a popularity contest.

Same goes for Chico Area Recreation District and Chico Unified Schools. I had neither on my ballot this election, so I don’t get to choose who has got their hand in my purse. But if you are voting for a school district rep this election, and you still have your ballot, here’s something you should take a look at. According to Dan Walters, California schools are not being evaluated on student performance. “Academic performance should have been the main focus of the California School Dashboard, but it is just one of its ‘multiple measures,’ thus allowing schools with sub-par test results to boast of high ratings due to their ancillary scores.”

And the chickens that hatched out of that little song and dance have come home to roost. Chico Unified scores have come down markedly since 2013, really exacerbated by the COVID school shut-down ordered by our school board. Here’s a Ballotpedia report about academic performance at CUSD and enrollment. SCROLL DOWN PAST THE CANDIDATE INFORMATION

https://ballotpedia.org/Chico_Unified_School_District,_California,_elections

See that? In 2013 68% of students in CUSD were performing “at or above proficiency level” That’s almost acceptable. And then down to 40% in 2020-21? Again, the school board made that decision to close the schools and then they made a decision to divvy up over $2 million in COVID emergency funding among themselves in the form of bonuses. Here’s the obvious question – bonuses for what? They weren’t coming to work. Parents were forced to find daycare, like NOW! And daycare isn’t school, so kids immediately started to slip behind in their functional skills.

So, whether or not you have a candidate for school board on your ballot, our school board needs to answer some questions – first being, how is that new bond going to accomplish anything? They got a $335 MILLION bond in 2020, where’d that go? To salary increases, look at these salaries.

https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/school-districts/butte/chico-unified/

Take a look at your superintendent’s salary – up over $20,000 in just two years, a $30,000 increase in total compensation for a grand total of $339,866/year. This woman was hired by school board members, her raises have been approved by school board members, and school board members have sat silently while academic performance in the district under her tenure has dropped a remarkable 28%.

Here’s something else that was pointed out to me and city council by a consultant named Chad Wolford – the school district is “management top-heavy” – look at all those management and assistant and deputy, etc – those people do nothing to raise your child’s test scores, they just add to the expense of education. Most of them work for THE TEACHERS, ensuring they get their salary increases and their benefits.

So, whether you’re voting or not, you pay for this crap. Ask some questions.

And don’t let the election screw your Halloween – have a scary day, do something fun, watch a scary movie, eat some popcorn, go trick-or-treating, don’t let this day pass without notice.

Butte County Supervisors recommend a $1 BILLION budget for 2024-25. This is an increase of $192 MILLION over 2023-24. Revenues include another $25 MILLION in Camp Fire Settlement funds. [PLEASE NOTE: The settlement money is coming from increased rates, the ratepayers, many of whose houses were burnt, are paying this settlement, not PG&E management or stock holders].

A neighbor asked, where does the county’s current funding go?

According to the budget, available online, salaries and benefits take 47% (=HALF A BILLION $$$) What does this mean for the county’s pension deficit?

“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.”

“In gross dollars, the contribution would more than double, from $24.9 million in FY 2018-19 to $57 million in FY 2030-31.”

Employees are not being asked to pay higher contributions – “The County will accumulate funds by collecting additional amounts from Departmental budgets through the payroll process. ” Meaning, they budget more money to payroll to pay for the deficit, instead of hiring more employees as needed. There you see it – the POB they took out in 2004 ISN’T WORKING. The POB costs are in the millions, IN ADDITION to the MILLIONS they are paying to CalPERS.

Debt service on Pension Obligation Bonds established 2004 – $3.8 MILLION, with increasing payments through 2034. According to this report

https://www.buttecounty.net/DocumentCenter/View/1552/Pension-Strategy-PDF

“The Strategy” saves the county $350,000 a year. They spend millions in money that should be going to infrastructure and they only save $350,000/year?

Budget projections through 2029 show overall salary increases of $5 MILLION or more per year. You do the math, right? Every salary increase has a exponential effect on the pension deficit.

This is where the money is going – it’s like feeding blue jays.

NO on Butte County one cent sales tax measure H.

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:

https://www.buttecounty.net/DocumentCenter/View/13430/Butte-County-Recommended-Budget-Fiscal-Year-2024-25-PDF?bidId=

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.

Ballots are on their way, I’ve already received my voter pamphlets. This is when the campaigns will ramp up.

So tonight Sheriff Kory Honea will be giving his pitch for the county’s one-cent sales tax Measure H at a local community center. Here’s what I would expect to hear – threats that services will be cut if we do not approve Measure H.

Here’s a good question for Honea – if the county is so broke, how come your salary has gone up over $30,000 between 2021 and 2023?

https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=Kory%20Honea

Since 2018 Honea’s salary has gone from $181,555.00 to $223,423.00, all the while county officials have been crying that they can’t provide essential services. It always starts with the library, now they’re saying they can’t provide adequate police or fire without a one-cent sales tax.

“Vote Yes on H to maintain our public safety services, fire stations, libraries and way of life in Butte County.”

They’re threatening us, even our “way of life” – what does that mean?

“In recent years we have been hit hard by the Camp and North Complex fires, floods and droughts.” What, no COVID?

What nerve they have to whine about this stuff – they forget to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars they’ve received in fire recovery funding, American Rescue Act funding, and disaster relief for the Oroville dam scare. Where’d that go? Well, for one, the board voted to use millions in Camp Fire funding to pay down their pension deficit, even though Bill Connelly told me they instituted an illegal Pension Obligation Bond in 2008. The pension deficit is still the county’s largest standing debt, and growing exponentially with every pay increase.

Think that was on Honea’s mind when they forced that last $20,000 raise down his throat? Think he tried to turn them down?

These people have plenty of money to work with, they just can’t seem to make very good budget decisions. Including the annual decision they make to raise their own salaries. These people do not give a rat’s ass about the rest of us.

Here’s a common claim they make – Honea will repeat this tonight – “Measure H Requires Strict Accountability“. Excuse me, that is total BULLSHIT. The measure states that the funds will go into the General Fund, which has no accountability and no restrictions on spending.

Yes, this is a “general” measure, meaning it only needs 50%+1 (that’s literally one person more than 50% of registered voters). The reasons they did not ask for a 2/3’s measure are, first, they already lost a simple measure, they know they can’t get 2/3’s. But more important, the funds from a 2/3’s measure would be restricted to a specific use like police or fire, but not just “public safety”. They don’t want restrictions on spending, because they want to use it to pay down their biggest debt – the pension deficit. They know the voters wouldn’t agree to that – the proof there is that they instituted a Pension Obligation Bond without putting it on the ballot. That’s illegal but it would take a lawsuit to overturn it. They knew that.

I think they know they’re in trouble, people have been asking pointy questions about Honea’s visit tonight. Some people are questioning the use of county employees to push a tax measure, others are questioning the county’s spending habits. So, Honea and others are spreading out in the community to bully and threaten the voters to “get on board”.

I’m not a tax-hater – I pay my taxes, thankyouverymuch. I do demand the right to question how they are spent, and there’s too many questions to slide this one through.

Again, NO on Butte County Measure H