Well, I suppose you got your “Yes on A” flyer. It’s full of the same lies Chico Area Rec Dist General Manager Ann Willmann was pumping at her “informational” sessions. Well, you may fight fire with fire, but you fight bullshit with a hose. Here’s my hose, mailed off to the Enterprise Record yesterday.
Measure A proponents claim county property taxes do not keep up with inflation and Chico Area Recreation District needs more taxpayer funding. But, according to CARD’s budget, available at chicorec.com, RDA passthrough funding increased 15% in 2019 and property tax revenues increased 7%, even after the Camp Fire. Meanwhile CARD’s payroll increased 11%, adding to their $2.7 million-plus pension liability.
Proponents list specific projects, but Measure A revenues won’t be dedicated. While the measure says proceeds will be collected in a special account, there’s no guarantee they’ll be used for the projects listed in the measure. From the text of the measure, “The district intends to use funds collected… for those projects listed above”, but here’s the caveat – “unless the board determines in any given year that changes in state or federal funding make doing so infeasible or inadvisable.”
In fact, the General Manager admits Measure A revenues will never be enough to pay for these projects, anyway. So, CARD proposes using the proceeds to secure a $36 million projects bond that will cost $2 million a year in debt service while only providing $1 million/year for the list of projects they propose. The result would be millions in new debt, with very little to show for it.
Home and business owners will be on the hook for a lot more than just an $85/year tax. A tax that increases every year with inflation, never sunsets, and is still not enough to pay for the rainbow, lollipop and sunshine promises.
NO on A.
