Who is going to pay? The billionaires or the taxpayers?

The recently completed poll by nationally recognized firm FM3 shared results showing that the vast majority of people were opposed to the Suisun Expansion Plan, which will add hundreds of thousands of residents and build out space for an advanced manufacturing hub on land currently in unincorporated Solano County. This plan, which is only supported by fewer than 1 in 5 residents, proposes to annex the project into Suisun City (more information on the poll here). 

The summary of the project included in the poll includes a brief description of what an annexation means - that this land would now be part of Suisun City and therefore the City would be responsible for building out roads and utilities and providing services such as police, fire, and schools - as they are with all residents.

We were surprised to hear California Forever and Suisun City Manager Bret Prebula take issue with this description, claiming that this is a misrepresentation of who will pay for infrastructure and services. To back up their claim, they point to the Reimbursement Agreement, and specifically 1A and 1B on page 4 where they quote:  "the Project will not draw financial resources from existing City tax base, and (ii) the Project will provide a net fiscal benefit that will help improve the provision of services for existing Suisun City residents."

However, not only is this just a reimbursement agreement for the initial exploration phase, what California Forever declined to share, although it is easily seen when referencing the document, is that this is simply in an introductory “shared goals” section of the document, not any sort of commitment on their part. Actual financial commitments are much more limited and in later sections of the agreement. Once again California Forever makes exaggerated and easily disproven claims about their level of financial commitment. 

Additionally, California Forever points to the one page (222) in the entire draft specific plan that references how the infrastructure and ongoing costs will be paid for. However, this page simply lists four different types of taxes, all public dollars that could be used to fund the ongoing infrastructure needs of new residents and businesses. No mention of any contributions for these costs from the deep-pocketed land owners who stand to add to their billions from this project.

And while they plan to pile on new taxes to subsidize the project, the plan makes no mention at all of where funding will come from for the initial infrastructure upgrades needed to build out this new annex of Suisun City before the new residents exist to tax. The Suisun Expansion Plan estimates, from the study done by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute for California Forever, an overall cost of $62.2 billion for constructing new roads, utilities and infrastructure, including $9.5 billion in the first phase of build-out. Suisun City residents (as well as Solano County and all California taxpayers) have a great interest in where those funds will come from. Unfortunately, Suisun City leaders are not asking those questions.

California Forever continues to avoid and obfuscate any financial questions by tactics like claiming a statement of goals is the same as a binding agreement, asking the community to trust that the project will cover all of its costs through increased taxes while petitioning to lower their own tax bill. 

Fortunately, residents see through these tactics and are demanding more answers. We hope Suisun City leaders demand those as well before taking action. Once that land is annexed, Suisun City will be obligated to provide basic services such as police, fire and roads for all residents and businesses in perpetuity, even when the California Forever investors have pocketed their profits and moved on.