HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.09.2024 Board Correspondence - FW_ Planning for the Future of Butte County.ATTENTION: This message originated from outside Butte County. Please exercise judgment before opening attachments, clicking on
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From:Clerk of the Board
To:Bennett, Robin; Clerk of the Board; Connelly, Bill; Cook, Holly; Cook, Robin; Durfee, Peter; Jessee, Meegan; Kimmelshue, Tod; Kitts,
Melissa; Lee, Lewis; Pickett, Andy; Ritter, Tami; Stephens, Brad J.; Sweeney, Kathleen; Teeter, Doug; Zepeda, Elizabeth; Daneluk,
Paula
Cc:Nevers, Dawn
Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: Planning for the Future of Butte County
Date:Thursday, May 9, 2024 4:15:39 PM
Please see Board correspondence -
From: Katy Thoma - Chico Builders Association <katy@chicobuilders.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 9, 2024 12:28 PM
To: Clerk of the Board <clerkoftheboard@buttecounty.net>
Subject: Re: Planning for the Future of Butte County
Good afternoon,
CBA produces a monthly newsletter for our membership. I’d like permission to re-print the letter below in the next
newsletter which is set to launch next week. I could include the letter below or if you have any other communication
materials you think would be more appropriate, let me know.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you!
Katy Thoma
Executive Director
Chico Builders Association
121 Yellowstone
Chico, CA 95973
530.332.8095
www.chicobuilders.com
From: Butte County Clerk of the Board <clerkoftheboard-buttecounty.net@shared1.ccsend.com>
Date: Thursday, May 2, 2024 at 11:43 AM
To: Katy Thoma - Chico Builders Association <katy@chicobuilders.com>
Subject: Planning for the Future of Butte County
Planning for the
Future of Butte County
May 2, 2024
Greetings,
I’m writing this letter to you, as a resident of Butte County and as the Chief Administrative Officer
of the County, to ask for your feedback. As you know, Butte County provides a variety of
community services to our residents, making it a great place to live, raise a family and retire.
We take great pride in being a transparent and open government while controlling costs to
make services to our residents more efficient. The challenge we are facing is that the County
has lost millions of dollars annually from State claw backs and unfunded mandates, hurting
the County’s ability to provide services at the levels residents want and need. In addition,
catastrophic fires, floods and droughts have provided challenges to our County.
The only way we’ve been able to provide the current level of service is by using one-time
funds to pay for ongoing services. Because one-time funds are not available on an ongoing
basis, the current level of services is not sustainable for the future. As we look to the near
future, cuts in services will need to be made without an additional source of revenue. These
cuts would likely result in decreased ability to respond to fires and wildfires, longer response
times for medical first responders and law enforcement calls and closing most libraries. To
learn more about the County’s annual budget, please visit
www.buttecounty.net/countybudget.
These recommendations are very difficult to make. Our priority is protecting the safety of
our residents and maintaining the quality of life we all value in our communities, but we are
also constrained by available funding. To provide stable, local funding to help close the
budget gap, County staff are exploring placing a 1¢ sales tax measure on the November 5,
2024 ballot. This would provide funds to support general government uses, such as wildfire
protection and response, retaining and attracting qualified sheriff deputies and firefighters,
reducing crime, protecting abused or neglected children, supporting local businesses,
addressing homelessness, restoring library hours, and supporting veterans’ services.
We take transparency seriously, which is why I am writing this letter to let you know of our
situation. In that vein, any local funding measure would include fiscal accountability
requirements, including required public disclosure of all spending.
As we move forward in our efforts to shape the future of Butte County, we want to ensure
that the voices of County residents are heard. The perspective and priorities of our
community members are valuable as we plan for the allocation of resources and funding to
meet the needs of our community.
This is where you come in. I genuinely want to hear from you and encourage you to share
your thoughts and priorities. We have created a survey where you can tell us what is
important to you. Please take a moment to complete the online survey located at
bit.ly/ButteCoSurvey. I’d also like to encourage you to share the survey with your friends
and family, we want to hear from as many residents as possible, please help us spread the
word.
If you would like to learn more, please attend a community meeting. We are hosting
meetings throughout the County this month where you can learn more about this proposal,
our budget challenges and their impacts, including presentations by the Fire Chief, Sheriff
and Library Director. The meetings are as follows:
Butte County Revenue Measure Community Meetings
May 14th 5:30 at the Chico Library
May 15th 5:30 at the Gridley Library
May 16th 5:30 at the Oroville Library
May 28th 5:30 at the Paradise Library
If you have additional thoughts, please email us at info@buttecounty.net. Together, we can
shape a future that serves us all. Thank you for your participation.
Sincerely,
Andy Pickett
Butte County Chief Administrative Officer
Butte County Clerk of the Board | 25 County Center Drive, Suite 200, Oroville, CA 95965
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