Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty addresses the City Council during a discussion of budget cuts on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. Sacramento faces steep fee hikes as a $66M budget gap forces higher police and permitting costs that threaten events and small businesses downtown.
JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS
jvillegas@sacbee.com
City of Fees
“Sacramento City Council approves hundreds of fee hikes amid $66M budget deficit,” (sacbee.com, May 12)
Sacramento is transforming from the City of Trees into the City of Fees. The burden of the city’s $66 million structural deficit is falling on those least able to foot the bill: small businesses and downtown commuters.
The City of Trees Parade was told to anticipate an extra one-hour transportation fee ($122) per traffic control officer for our 2027 event. We estimate this will cost us $20,000 in police fees (compared to less than $9,000 two years ago).
These ever-increasing fees by multiple city departments are making events like ours impossible or forcing them to move to more supportive municipalities.
Wes Samms
Sacramento
Legal trapdoor
“California Democrats narrowly endorse Prop 40 wealth tax,” (sacbee.com, Aug. 2)
Proposition 40 isn’t just a fight over whether billionaires will flee California.. Two other measures on this ballot, Propositions 41 and 42, were supported by the same donors bankrolling opposition to Prop. 40. They include Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt’s “Building a Better California,” which has raised more than $156 million.
If either Prop. 41 or 42 wins more “yes” votes than Prop. 40, courts could strike the billionaire tax down entirely — even if Prop. 40 passes. That’s a legal trapdoor built into the ballot.
David Goodwin
Long Beach
Appalling
“Sacramento advocates urge Senate to extend TPS for Haitian immigrants,” (sacbee.com, July 30)
Every American should be appalled by the Trump administration’s action to revoke temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians in the U.S. What is more appalling is that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has already begun forcing Haitians who have lost their TPS status to wear ankle monitors.
Sean P Boyd
Fresno
Home hardening
“Make wildfire resilience affordable for California homes,” (sacbee.com, Aug. 16)
The state continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on remote‑forest logging projects that do little to protect communities from destructive wind-driven fires like the Camp Fire and the wildfires in Los Angeles. Redirecting even a portion of those funds toward home hardening and community‑scale mitigation would save more homes, more lives and more money.
Jennifer Normoyle
Hillsborough
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