Jobs

has been the platform for numerous efforts to establish their own GoFundMe accounts for those laid off.

Low-income workers

Residents with low wages may be the most eager to find the federal stimulus check in the mail, but what they may do with it could be a determining factor in their well-being.

Comforted by a consistent government safety net means some residents might spend it on more than necessities.

Be frugal is what experts advise. The checks, up to $1,200 per person, could be a tremendous help, if spent properly.

Retired Chico City Manager Tom Lando, who also served as interim city manager in Oroville and is still working there, sees a half-full glass scenario.

As to national reports of jobless numbers reaching 30 percent, Lando said, “I’m more optimistic.”

However, he questions the stimulus working as intended unless people are willing to keep up with their major bills like rent and utilities.

“I don’t see how deferring things like mortgages or rents for three or four months will help, unless employment is available. How are these people going to cope with double their payments?

“I’m extremely nervous about the economy coming out of this.”

Alternative economic scenarios exist from a three-month pull-back, to a multi-year depression, triggered by countless small businesses that are forced to close their doors, leaving their staffs without work, and eventually governments without needed revenue.

“I’m very worried about turning the economy back on after such a good job of turning it off,” Lando said, in regards to sheltering-inplace and what it’s done to local businesses.

“For low-income workers, it’s incredibly tough,” Lando said, suggesting the most pessimistic future could be the increase in homeless numbers. “They could double. “I don’t know if there’s any answer. Don’t know what government can do. I’m not sure that $2 trillion (federal) package will restart the economy. They’ll have to pay rent, that doesn’t restart the economy.”

CalPERS

Lando has gone on the record many times about the impact of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System debt on municipal and other government, indicating that it could be a deciding factor in how municipalities make it through the economic pandemic.

Oroville, he noted, has low CalPERS obligation, but other cities aren’t so lucky.

“We need to be fair to existing employees,” Lando said Tuesday, himself a CalPERS member. “But we need to phase out the program and set up a system with more defined payments.”

Lando said to his knowledge there is not action in Sacramento to change the system.

CalPERS was set up at a time when public employees were paid less than the private sector, “but that’s not true now,” he noted.

Third places

It was only a few years back that what economic development specialists called Butte’s “third places” were being heralded as a revenue generators for the county, making this area where people wanted to live.

Those includes tourist attractions, museums, restaurants, wineries, galleries, wilderness areas, open spaces like parks and plazas, among other places that draw people when they aren’t at home or working.

Those are the places have anchored several strongholds in the economic outlook, including leisure and hospitality sector, and retail trade.

In February’s preliminary numbers, the retail sector employed 10,500 residents in Butte County, and 9,100 in leisure and hospitality. Those sectors traditionally add jobs as the tourism season ramps up in Butte County.

Another sector that has been increasing has been construction in Butte County, especially with the Camp Fire recovery effort. In a year- over review, that sector had gained 200 jobs with 4,300 residents holding construction-related jobs in February.

Businesses among the hardest hit are those with public interaction, from restaurants to retail stores. After seeing revenues drop, will they have the financial resources to start up again, and will customers return is the question economy watchers are asking.

Strong businesses — those with reserves, low overhead, strong niches and lean staffs — may have the best chances to return.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced some flexibility for small businesses in a delay for business taxes. Small businesses have an extra 90 days to file a return and pay taxes if they owe less than $1 million in sales and use tax.

Even with the cutbacks in consumer spending that mean less tax revenue for cities, Lando thinks local governments should be all right in the short run.

Economic webinars

Economist Robert Eyler of Sonoma State will be presenting two free webinars called “Ask the Economist,” scheduled Friday and April 10.

Eyler has spoken many times in Butte County about the economic outlook in general and in regards to the Camp Fire impact.

Sponsored by Chabin Concepts of Chico, the webinars will be 30 minutes and Eyler will accept questions from the public as well. Vicki Doll of Chabin Concepts said the webinars play off a series of “business interruption” presentations that Eyler has been giving.

Register online at bit. ly/SonomaStateEconWebinar.

Questions about the webinars can be directed to Chabin Concepts, 3450364 ext. 26.