2012-2013 Final Report of the Butte County Grand Jury*

"The Town of Paradise is primarily a residential community with minimal retail and commercial businesses. Therefore, Paradise residents often work and shop elsewhere, leaving their sales tax dollars in other jurisdictions." Response: Respondent agrees with this finding. Property tax revenues alone are generally not sufficient to cover the cost of police, fire, roads, and general government services within a community. Sales tax revenue is a source of income that many cities use to fund public safety services. In fact, most municipalities have much more diverse income streams which help balance projected revenues during economic downturns, while the Town of Paradise is heavily dependent on property taxes. Property tax revenue is 46% percent of the Town's general fund revenues which is why the Town of Paradise was particularly adversely affected during the recent housing market crash. Specifically, the Town suffered a loss of almost $3.4 Million Dollars in property tax revenues since 2008. A heightened commercial economy would afford residents more opportunities to shop locally and work closer to home, which would improve local public safety services and infrastructure, as well as decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

"The Town of Paradise has experienced revenue challenges for many years, which impact town services." <b>Response:</b> Respondent agrees with this finding. The State of California's property tax swaps and budget takeaways have increased State and County coffers. According to recent news articles, state and county workers are currently discussing pay increases, while most local governments are slashing critical services and programs, and some are being forced into bankruptcy. State decisions severely impact local economies, where expensive, but critical services like public safety and infrastructure are funded. This, along with the dissolution of Redevelopment Agency financing, has proven to be a crushing blow to local governments across the State. Voter antipathy toward government in general is a hurdle in raising local taxes to pay for critical services. In fact, many property owners believe that most of their property taxes remain local and are sufficient to cover the cost of public safety and road maintenance, but this is not the case. The revenue challenges faced by the Town are due largely to State decisions that have had a deleterious effect on the general fund, which is the only source of revenue available to provide critical public safety services to the residents of Paradise.

"The Town of Paradise carefully planned for the transition of the new town manager." Response: Respondent agrees with this finding. Probably more than most organizations, governmental agencies have to keep a keen eye towards the future in respects to budget planning, capital project improvements (infrastructure planning,) and long-range succession planning. There has been a recent influx in retirements of city managers—mainly due to the economic conditions and retirement age. The Town of Paradise has anticipated its susceptibility of the "graying" of its top managers for several years and has been planning for the eventual turnover in leadership. The new Town Manager has been with the Town for over twenty five years and has served as the Assistant Town Manager as well as the head of Development Services. Then, following a six month term as Interim Town Manager, the Council signed a three year contract to extend the position on a permanent basis. The Town also has several solid employees in top manager positions who are gaining valuable experience in municipal leadership and decision-making skills.

"The Town of Paradise's lack of a sewer system has been a barrier in attracting significant new retail and commercial business." Response: Respondent agrees with this finding. Wastewater infrastructure is critical to existing and new commercial establishments. In most cities, wastewater is handled via a city-wide sewer district set up and constructed to serve the entire community. In these instances, the economy of scale allows for an affordable solution to wastewater management. However, the Town of Paradise, one of the largest unsewered cities in the country, still relies on individual septic tanks for both residential and commercial properties alike. Residential septic systems are installed at the time of construction and are, by-and-large, affordable in most cases. However, commercial septic systems can be expensive and require large leach field areas. Many of these commercial systems are engineered sand filtration systems that are costly to install and to maintain. Even with new technology in wastewater solutions, individual commercial enterprises struggle with the unknown aspects and expenses of individual septic treatment systems.

"A sewer system for the residential districts is impractical due to the Town of Paradise's topography." Response: Respondent agrees with this finding. Topography is only one issue that would impact a community-wide sewer system in Paradise. The topography of the Town along with the way that it was developed presents many challenges and costly solutions that would include numerous pumps and lift stations. The Town's soils, high ground water and intermittent streams also play a major role in the engineering and construction costs involved in a community-wide treatment option.