Chevron settlement emerges as city's 'plan B' for fire station upgrades

Richmond City Council voted Tuesday to place a $120 million fire station bond on the November ballot. City officials also said that if voters reject it, the city could fall back on Chevron settlement money to pay for the same upgrades.

The admission came only after a councilmember asked directly. The city's own polling shows the Chevron settlement is one of the two strongest arguments voters cite for rejecting the bond.

Councilmember Soheila Bana asked City Manager Shasa Curl directly whether the city had a backup plan if voters reject the bond.

"Is there a plan B if it doesn't go through?" Bana asked.

"Yes," Curl said.

"What is it?"

"To ask the city council to appropriate some of the settlement funds to upgrade the stations."

A general obligation bond needs support from two-thirds of voters to pass. The city's July poll found support topping out at 63 percent, even after voters heard the most favorable case the city could make.

The settlement itself grew out of the "Make Polluters Pay" campaign, a 2024 push by residents, environmental justice groups and labor unions to tax Chevron's Richmond refinery directly. The city withdrew that ballot measure after Chevron agreed to pay $550 million over 10 years instead, $50 million a year for the first five years and $60 million a year for the next five.

Support has dropped since May

The city polled Richmond voters twice this year, once in May and again from July 17 to 22, both surveys run by pollster Tom Clifford of CliffordMoss. Support fell across every version tested.

With no additional information beyond the ballot language, support dropped from 65 percent in May to 54 percent in July. After hearing the strongest arguments for the bond, quicker response times and safer conditions for firefighters, support dropped from 72 percent to 63 percent. After hearing the two strongest arguments against it, support dropped from 69 percent to 54 percent.

"The softening in support is something that we're actually seeing in communities across California," Clifford told council. "Richmond is not unique in seeing poll results that look lower now than they did before the June primary."

Even the best case falls short of the 66.7 percent required. And the "yes" side is soft: only 21 percent of voters were "definitely yes," with the rest merely "probably yes" or "leaning yes."

The city's fallback plan matches its own polling

The poll tested two arguments for voting no. One was affordability: Richmond families already struggling with housing and grocery costs can't absorb another tax. The other invoked the settlement directly: "Richmond just got over half a billion dollars in a settlement from Chevron. We don't need to raise taxes again. Instead, the city should be more responsible and spend the money it already has."

Both arguments scored identically in July: 81 percent of voters found each argument convincing, up from 71 percent in May.

Deputy Director of Finance Mubeen Qader told council the city prefers not to call it a settlement at all. "There has been the mention of the Chevron settlement funds, or the limited-term revenues, the terminology that we prefer here," he said.

"When you bring the present value at the discount rate of 3 percent, the present value in today's dollars is like only $480 million," Qader said. "And if the discount rate is seven percent, then it is $470 million. So really, $550 million in today's dollars is not already $550 million."

He sketched a hypothetical use of $50 million in a single year: roughly $18 million for pavement, $10 million for operations and staffing, and $20 million for other capital projects. He also told council the city faces "more than a billion dollars" in unfunded capital needs citywide, separate from and larger than the settlement, and that the city's other unfunded liabilities, chiefly pension and retiree health benefits, add up to "about $408 million in today's dollars."

What the bond would cost

The measure authorizes up to $120 million in bonds to repair, reconstruct, modernize and seismically retrofit Richmond's fire stations. The city's tax rate statement puts the average estimated rate at $22.15 per $100,000 of assessed property value, peaking at $24.06 per $100,000 in 2028. On a home assessed at $650,000, that's roughly $144 a year, or $12 a month, per figures presented by Urban Futures' Wing-See Fox. The tax is projected to run through 2060, so that same homeowner could pay nearly $5,000 over the life of the bond.

Citywide, the total runs well past the $120 million figure. With interest, the city's tax rate statement puts total debt service at $249 million if all bonds are issued and repaid.

Firefighters made the case in person

Firefighters union president Marcus Faumui told council the stations have mold and leak during storms. Firefighter Kelly Griffin said some foundations have settled so badly that firefighters place lumber under their beds to sleep level, and that the buildings, built during World War II, lack the seismic resilience the region needs. Both asked council to let voters decide.

The council adopted the ordinance and resolution unanimously among members present, with Vice Mayor Doria Robinson absent. The measure now goes to the Contra Costa County Elections Division for the November 3 ballot.

Curl told council that once a separate facilities needs assessment is done, staff will return with a broader funding strategy for other capital projects.

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