Contra Costa Taxpayers Association

The Contra Costa Taxpayers Association has been advocating for good government at an affordable cost since 1937. To keep the organization alive and relevant, we need a new generation of Contra Costa County taxpayers to join and take active roles.

Many younger people who might have joined us in the past have instead moved away due to the high cost of living (including the high tax burden) or are too busy struggling to afford to live here. Affluent taxpayers who’ve recently arrived might not know about us or may not resonate with our purpose. Local activists are primarily interested in environmental sustainability and other issues that imply an activist government.

But, as you can see from the this chart, local governments in Contra Costa County already spend $10.9 billion per year in aggregate (based on my analysis of local government financial reports from 2022 or 2023). This is an enormous about of money and it is clear that not all of it is being spent effectively. My message to Contra Costa taxpayers is that whatever you believe the right size of government should be, wasteful and ineffective public sector spending is not in the public interest. While in a past era, we might have relied on local newspapers to exercise oversight and highlight waste, fraud, and abuse, these publications have merged and shrank. It is now up to citizen volunteers to hold government officials accountable.

I hope that this is a message that can resonate across the political spectrum and attract a new generation of concerned taxpayers to join CoCoTax. If you have suggestions about groups and organizations, we should be speaking to about this message, please share their names with me: my email address is marc@cocotax.org.

In 2004, Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo faced a financial crisis. The government entity responsible for the hospital, the West Contra Costa Healthcare District (WCCHD), asked voters to agree to pay extra property taxes to keep it open.

In a special election held in June of that year, West County voters were asked to weigh in on Measure D, which read as follows:

To prevent the life threatening shut-down of the West Contra Costa Healthcare District's only full service emergency room, which serves all West County residents, and prevent the closure of this community's local hospital so that victims of heart attacks, strokes, car accidents, bums, toxic chemical releases and other medical emergencies receive rapid response medical care, shall an annual special property tax be authorized with all revenue staying in our community for local emergency and healthcare services and facilities?

The special tax, known as a parcel tax, ranged from $52 for a single-family home to $1040 for a large apartment building. The full text of the measure included in the voter pamphlet distributed ahead of the election stated:

The purpose of this parcel tax will be to ensure continued local access to emergency room care, acute hospital care and other medical services for residents of the District and visitors to the area. The revenues raised by this special tax will only be used to defray operating expenses, capital improvement expenditures and debt repayment to accomplish the foregoing purposes.

And added:

A citizens oversight committee appointed by the Board will review and report on the expenditure of tax revenues.

Voters passed the measure, and the hospital remained open, but its financial problems continued. In 2006, WCCHD declared bankruptcy. But even discharging its debts did not provide long-term relief.

Doctors Medical Center closed in April 2016. The building was subsequently demolished and the site is now a casino parking lot. The emergency room and acute care the hospital provided were no longer available to West County residents, who were now obliged to go to Kaiser Richmond Medical Center or other facilities for care.

Yet, the Measure D parcel tax, purportedly levied to provide urgent medical, remains on homeowners’ property tax bills. Each year Contra Costa County, which took over WCCHD, collects about $5.5 million in Measure D parcel taxes. This is in addition to a similar amount of money that has historically been allocated to WCCHD from the basic 1 percent property tax we all pay.

So where does this tax money go? The biggest cost the district faces is principal and interest on its municipal bonds. The district’s current bond matures in 2042, after the Board of Supervisors decided to roll over the debt in 2021. Total principal and interest is about $3.15 million per year.

The second biggest expense is pension benefits earned by former hospital employees. As of the last financial report, there were 108 retirees and survivors. Their benefits totaled $842,193 (averaging less than $8000 per beneficiary) for the year ended June 30, 2023. The County is making extra contributions into the pension fund to pay future benefits, but these appear to be excessive.

Finally, the County is using the tax money to pay administrative expenses and to make grants for health-related issues. The most recent grant was to the West County PLAYS program which subsidizes rental fees youth sports clubs pay to use facilities at West Contra County Unified School District. While subsidizing youth sports sounds like a good thing, it has little to do with the emergency room and acute care facilities voters agreed to fund when they voted for Measure D over two decades ago.

At CoCoTax, we believe the Measure D parcel tax should be terminated as soon as possible. While bondholders and pension beneficiaries have legitimate interests, it is not clear to us that their concerns eclipse those of homeowners, most of whom are getting zero value for the parcel taxes they have been paying.

If Supervisors cannot see their way to formally liquidating WCCHD and ending the Measure D parcel tax, they could at least reconvene the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee included in the measure. This way residents can ensure that the tax revenue provides appropriate community benefits until it is no longer needed.

On January 24, Mary Beth Bykowsky from the California Department of Insurance discussed challenges in the California property insurance with CoCoTax luncheon attendees. Here are the slides she showed us.

https://cocotax.org/resources/Documents/Lunchtime%20Speaker%20Series/Contra%20Costa%20Taxpayers%20ASSC%20SIS%201.24.2025.pdf

Debora Allen is finishing eight years of service as a BART Director this year. On October 25, she gave CoCoTax members her closing thoughts about the situation at BART. Here are her slides. 

https://cocotax.org/resources/Documents/The%20BART%20Report%20-%20CoCoTax%2010-25-2024.pdf

See slides presented by Central San management at May 24, 2024 CoCoTax Meeting to learn more.

https://www.cocotax.org/resources/Documents/Lunchtime%20Speaker%20Series/Nutrients%20General%20Ppt-05242024.pdf

Our new County Clerk-Recorder, Debi Cooper, shares information on voting during the pandemic.

https://www.cocotax.org/resources/Documents/Lunchtime%20Speaker%20Series/Voting%20During%20the%202020%20Pandemic.pdf

Our February speaker, Thomas A Rubin, shares his background information on Bay Area Transportation Taxes & Fees.   His eye-opening presentation is exceeded only by his knowledge & experience in the field of transportation.  We hope this handy sheet enhances your understanding of the transit and transportation issues.

Bay Area Trans Tax 02 28 20.pdf

https://www.cocotax.org/resources/Documents/Coupal%20piece.pages.pdf

Submitted by Mark Fernwood:

Few know that a massive apartment blocks may be coming to a neighborhood near you! Unelected bureaucrats in Plan Bay Area, ABAG, MTC and now the CASA Compact, will force thousands of high density housing projects into our communities.  A portion of which will be for low to very low incomes. All this will totally change the character and livability of our communities. 

The function of local zoning laws is to protect the character and commonality of our communities. Local zoning allows the residents to determine their future.  Maintaining local character protects the value of our homes.  With CASA, we now have Soviet style central planning imposed on us.

False Claim # 1. Amid cries of “housing crisis” we are told that there is an acute housing shortage.  A quick fact check can be had by searching apartment locating web sites such as Hotpads.com, Apartmentfinder.com, Apartments.com and others.  Each will show hundreds of vacant Bay Area units.  A “crisis” of shortage should show only long waiting lists, not hundreds of vacant, waiting Bay Area apartments.

False Claim # 2. We are also told that housing is too expensive.  CASA asserts that building still more units will lower costs.  According to the Building Industry Association, the average cost to build a new Bay Area unit is $500,000.  With this hard cost burden, new units cannot lower rents.

False Claim # 3. CASA’s further assertion, is that if populations are tightly packed, near transit hubs, residents will not need cars.  In fact, no parking will be provided in many complexes. The reality is that most, if not all, will own cars and will have visitors with cars.  This will further burden limited public parking. A stated goal is to reduce the amount traffic on highways.  How will imposing high density on outlying communities, where there are few jobs or mass transit possibly help this?  

False Claim # 4.  We are also told adding more housing will help solve the “homeless” epidemic.  The “homeless” have no money for any rent. However they can live for free in “shelters.’

False Claim # 5. We are lead to believe the “housing crisis” is unique to California and the Bay Area. This is actually just part of an international effort to compress populations.  Google “housing crisis, Berlin” or another major, Western city.

There is also a very strange concept that those that work in a community should be able to afford to live there.  Should those that service the lawns and pools in Beverly Hills actually expect to be able to live there?  There are areas where housing is comparatively inexpensive, other areas that are median priced.  There are also areas that are premium and even ultra-premium priced.

It should be of great concern how these agencies can dictate such destructive changes in our lives. Decisions imposed by the unelected regional governments, insures no means of redress.   Our communities will be wrecked for “reasons” that are False. Consider: what will they do to us next?

What you can do is to become involved.  Send this video on to as many others as possible.  Call and write to your community and state leaders. Please donate to CoCoTax to help with the production of videos like this.

CoCoTax is a nonpartisan organization whose motto is “Good government at an affordable price.” To find out more about us go to: CoCoTax.org.

Suggested links:

Housing crisis, CASA Compact, Plan Bay Area, MTC,

From the California Policy Center:

Californians are now paying over $4.00/gallon at the pump. According to GasBuddy, refining issues led gas prices to jump about 25 cents per gallon. However, rest assured, you’re still paying only an average of 79 cents per gallon in taxes when you fill up your vehicle. If this number makes you want to scream, I have more bad news for you - Americans spent more on taxes last year than on food, clothing and health care combined. Click here to read a full analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey.

A new report on the financial condition of the United States ranks California 43rd in the nation for its fiscal health. With the economy cooling off, and talks of a recession in the news, you may be wondering what that means for your wallet. Well, consider not only your own income and spending, but that of your local government. As we have noted in the past, California’s total state and local government debt is over $1.5 trillion. This week CPC fellow Edward Ring makes the case for pension reform by pointing out the unsustainability of current government spending in times of economic downturn. Click here to read his analysis. 

One of the reasons many municipalities are on the brink of fiscal insolvency is because government unions are able to spend money and elected local officials, who in turn increase their pay and benefits. One such union is the teachers union in California, which frequently asserts that teachers need higher pay because of a “pay gap.” Yet, as CPC contributor Larry Sand points this is a myth. Click here to read more.

Many Californians are rightfully concerned about stewarding the environment. Yet, a topic that frequently is not discussed by people is water. Although the Left and Right may argue about social issues and economic issues, the water issue should be one where both sides find common ground. This week CPC contributor Darin DuPont makes the case for why Californians must not remain complacent about this important issue. Click here to read the full article.