Bill Russell, philosopher and basketball legend, told me what he thought of Sacramento when he moved to town in 1987 to coach the Kings.
He said Sacramento was Fresno with a capitol.
I exaggerate when I say Russell moved here. He disliked Sacramento so much that he lived in Rancho Murieta, a golf community on Amador County’s doorstep.
But his Fresno line was amusing, coming from a guy whose humor rarely penetrated the reporters who covered him. It was the funniest thing I ever heard Bill Russell say.
I remembered Russell’s joke recently when someone told me the biggest problem in Sacramento was the freeloading state government.
This argument insists the city gets cheated out of millions in property taxes because state buildings consume blocks of real estate and generate zero local tax revenue.
To fix this injustice, the city should convince the governor and Legislature to pay up.
I’ve heard this for decades. It falls under “whining about the weather.” The reason is politics.
The state Legislature has 120 members. Three represent Sacramento. The other 117 mostly respond to voters in Southern California and the Bay Area. To expect transient politicians to carve out tax gifts so the capital city can balance its books is delusional.
Some SoCal politicians can barely find Sacramento on a map.
Then there’s the governor. Our last homegrown governor was Hiram Johnson, who left office in 1917. California governors leave town the instant their term is up—sooner for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gavin Newsom. No governor loves Sacramento.
Even Hiram Johnson turned his back on his hometown. He became a U.S. senator and moved to Washington, D.C. He died in Maryland.
There’s another problem with begging the state to pay property taxes. Such thinking encourages the city to become even more dependent on state government.
A better idea is to reduce reliance on state government and diversify the local economy, a concept that baffles City Hall. Sacramento takes unhealthy pride in being a government town.
For argument’s sake, let’s pretend the Legislature and governor somehow agree to pay property taxes on state buildings. Like a fast-acting drug, Sacramento soon gets hooked on state real estate income. Cravings grow worse each year.
One day, it’s time for rehab. A new Legislature and governor arrive and cancel the capital’s property tax gift.
The City Council spirals into withdrawals, thrashing around to backfill the budget, clawing the walls for new revenue fixes.
The city got a taste of similar humiliation this year. State authorities surprised City Hall by coughing up a mere $13 million for homeless services, about 40% below the expected gift.
The smaller check was the city’s fault. Under the direction of former Mayor Darrell Steinberg, the city shifted vendors and tabulation methods for its 2024 unsheltered count.
Miraculously, the new calculations produced 29% fewer homeless people, coincidentally just as Steinberg’s farewell tour began.
Statistical voodoo gave the ex-mayor a fig leaf to wear as he backed off the stage, eight years after he promised and failed to shrink the unsheltered population.
Inside Sacramento called foul. I noted how the new measurements created data that couldn’t be compared to earlier counts. It was as if the city switched from apples to bananas and said they looked the same.
The city fooled itself, but not the state. Funds for unsheltered people are competitive, with hundreds of California cities chasing homeless dollars.
While Steinberg celebrated his lower homeless count, state authorities smiled. They said, great, now you don’t need so much money, here’s 40% less.
Remembering Bill Russell, I checked with Fresno, a non-capital city bigger than Sacramento by about 20,000 people.
Fresno is managing a $21 million deficit, compared to Sacramento’s original $62 million gap. Fresno’s mayor talked about taxing ride shares. He wants more marijuana shops to generate more taxes.
Forget state buildings. Act like Fresno. Let creativity bloom.
R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
