There’s a lot to like about Measure A

There are a lot of public improvements that would make Chico a better place, but they just aren’t going to happen unless the city’s residents are willing to pay more.

That’s the case with the Chico Area Recreation and Park District’s Measure A.

It’s a parcel tax. Each piece of property — residential and commercial — in the district would be assessed $85 a year. That would increase annually to keep pace with inflation. There is no sunset clause, so the tax would remain in effect until voters end it.

Current assessments on residents around Baroni, Oak Way and Peterson neighborhood parks would be dropped if Measure A passes. While that’s not part of the measure language, CARD’s board has promised.

The measure would raise about $3 million a year, which would be used to fund a $36 million bond sale to get a long shopping list of projects going quickly.

The projects are fairly clearly defined, including an aquatics center, a gym and several multi-use sports fields at DeGarmo Park in north Chico. There’d be another softball field and new playground equipment at Community Park on the south side of town.

There are lots of repairs and accessibility projects scattered around CARD’s facilities. We’re also glad that increased safety steps including security guards are included, as that’s the way the world is these days.

We can support the measure for all those reasons. The work is set out in black and white, with provisions for citizen oversight. The projects would be assets to the community, and they simply won’t get done if the extra money isn’t approved by the voters.

Passage will require a twothirds majority of those voting.

While we support Measure A, Chicoans are going to have to decide how many times they want to raise their taxes this year, as the city will have a sales tax increase on the November ballot.

What that money will be spent on hasn’t been defined as crisply as CARD has done, but city officials have suggested it will go for things like fixing the roads and improving public safety. These too are things — particularly the road repairs — that won’t get done without the tax hike.

But the one thing the city tax increase will absolutely not pay for is the recreational projects CARD is planning. The two agencies are separate.

Even though the city owns Bidwell Park and greenways along some of the creeks through town, it does not provide recreation.

All the active recreation facilities are operated by CARD. That includes the Hooker Oak Recreation Area, the Chico Creek Nature Center and Sycamore Field, even though they all seem to be in Bidwell Park.

It gets confusing because the city has a Parks Division, and a park commission — officially the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission.

But CARD extends far beyond the city limits, all the way north to the Tehama County border, west to the Sacramento River, south almost to Durham, and bulbs out to the east in a couple of places too.

That’s why the two agencies couldn’t put a single tax increase before the voters.

And that’s why voters have to decide whether they want to increase their taxes once, twice, or not at all this year.

If you’re OK with two tax hikes, vote for Measure A, of course. If you’d rather just vote for one, the city’s November measure will probably be more important. As we said, it’s a little more vague that CARD’s, but it should go for things we need, rather than things that would be nice to have.

If you’re not going to support any taxes … well, you stopped reading this piece long ago.

We support Measure A, but it’s your wallet.