City Council Agenda Report Meeting Date: September 15, 2026
CITY CHICO
TO: City Council
FROM: Gillian Haen, City Manager
RE: RESPONSE TO 2025-2026 GRAND JURY REPORT
REPORT IN BRIEF:
Pursuant to California Penal Code §933, the City Council is required to provide a written response to the 2025-2026 Final Report of the Butte County Grand jury within 90 days of its release. The Final Report was released on June 15, 2026 and received in the City Clerk's office on June 22, 2026; therefore, the response is due on or before September 22, 2026.
RECOMMENDATION: Consider the draft response and approve the proposed response or approve as amended.
DISCUSSION:
State law requires the City Council to provide a written response to the Final Report of the Butte County Grand Jury in those areas where the Grand Jury has requested a response from the City of Chico. The responses to the findings in the report must state whether or not the City agrees or disagrees wholly or partially with the finding. If there is a partial disagreement, the response must explain the reasons.
The responses to the recommendations must indicate one of the following: 1. It has been implemented, with a summary regarding the implemented action. 2. It has not yet been implemented, but will be, with a time frame for implementation 3. The recommendation requires further analysis with an explanation of the scope and parameters of the analysis and a time frame for the matter to be prepared for discussion. This time frame is not to exceed six months from the date of the publication of the Grand Jury report. 4. The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or is not reasonable -with an explanation.
FISCAL IMPACT:
ATTACHMENTS: 2025-2026 Grand Jury Report
OF
UPERIOR SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF BUTTE
Butte County Courthouse • North no Are Courthous
COUNT One Court Street
roville, CA 9596 5300532.9502
30) 532-700
RECEIVED
June 15, 2026
JUN 22 2026
Chico City Council CITY CLERK
Po Box 3420 CITY OF CHICO
Chico CA 95927
Dear Chico City Council Members: Kasey Reynolds, Dale Bennett, Bryce Goldstein, Katie Hawley, Mike O'Brien, Tom Van Overbeek, Addison Winslow
The Final Report of the 2025-2026 Butte County Grand Jury was filed on June 05, 2026, and will be released to the public at the Impanelment on June 26, 2026.
Per Penal Code §933.05(f): "A grand jury shall provide to the affected agency a copy of the portion of the grand jury report relating to that person or entity two working days prior to its public release and after the approval of the presiding judge. No officer, agency, department, or governing body of a public agency shall disclose any contents of the report prior to the public release of the final report." As an affected person or entity named in the Final Report, please find enclosed a copy of the relevant sections of the report. This information remains confidential until the public release of the report in its entirety on Friday, June 26, 2026.
The complete report will be posted to the Butte County website for viewing after it is released to the public.
Please note that all agencies listed as Required Respondents must adhere to the requirements of Penal Code §933/933.05.
Please direct responses to: Hon. Jesus A. Rodriguez, Judge of the Superior Court c/o Administrative Services
Superior Court of California, County of Butte
One Court Street, Oroville, CA 95965
Sincerely,
Dhattup
Dawn Hattrup
Administrative Specialist
Superior Court of California, County of Butte
CHICO'S DOWNTOWN PARKING KIOSK SYSTEM
June 5, 2026
SUMMARY
The Butte County Civil Grand Jury investigated the City of Chico's parking kiosk system based upon complaints that its unwieldiness was causing longstanding customers of downtown businesses to avoid the area. The kiosks, which were recommended in the 2019 Downtown Access Action Plan, went fully live in March 2023.
The Grand Jury found that the user interface initially installed on the kiosks was hard for some drivers to read and offered instructions that occasionally caused confusion.
The City staff was responsive to user complaints and installed new interface software in November 2025. The Chico Police Department reports that issuance of citations is falling, suggesting that the improvements may be having the desired effect.
The Action Plan called for a public information campaign to prepare people for the transition to kiosks. While some efforts were made they were not sustained. The Grand Jury recommends that the City conduct a renewed public information campaign to encourage installation of a parking app that can be installed on drivers' smartphones as an easy way to pay for parking.
GLOSSARY
To aid in understanding certain terms in this report, the following definitions are provided:
"Downtown Access Action Plan" - The March 25, 2019 report prepared for the City by Dixon Resources Unlimited which analyzed options for modernizing Chico's parking meter system and recommended adoption of the Passport kiosk system then in use at CSU, Chico.
"Zone One" - The downtown business area bounded east to west by 1st to 5th Streets and north to south by Salem to Flume Streets. Parking in this area is limited to two hours.
"Zone Two" - The remainder of the core downtown business area extending east to west from 5th to 9th streets and north to south from Salem to Flume. 15 "Smart Meter Kiosks" - Equipment that the City of Chico deploys to register payment for use of a parking space. One kiosk generally serves as the pay point for one side of the street for an entire block in the 2-hour parking zone. "Passport Payment System" - The company that provides payment software, payment processing and a parking app for the kiosks used by the City of Chico. "Turnover" - The frequency with which vehicles enter and exit a given parking area. "Occupancy Rate" - The percentage of parking spaces occupied by a vehicle at a given time.
BACKGROUND
The City of Chico has used parking meters to encourage turnover of on-street parking in the core downtown area since 1955. The proximity of what was then the City's main shopping district to California State University, Chico (CSUC) saw much of the store front parking taken up by students who occupied spaces longer than customers.
Requiring payment created an incentive for drivers to park their vehicles in free spots further from the business district.
The current objectives of the City's parking program are largely consistent with those of the original plan: Price parking at a level that encourages turnover and allows recovery of the costs to install, maintain and enforce the system. Parking fines and fees are not designed to increase the City's general revenue. Rather, the fees aim to encourage efficient use of limited on-street parking. In the highest density area, Zone One, parking is limited to two hours with the intention of creating an 85 percent occupancy rate. That level is considered an industry standard for the trade-off between the scarcity value of on street parking and the likelihood of finding space within a block or so of the driver's destination. The 10-hour Zone Two, located just outside of Zone One (see map), allows longer term parking for employees of businesses within the high occupancy area.
16 GO! DOWNTOWN Smart Parking.
Better Access.
Chico
CALIFORNIA STATE
UNIVERSITY, CHICO
Smart Meter Paring
Vote 2-hour time limit
Pay by crodit card or coin
Metered Parting
Pay Dy coin only
Unmetered Parking
Tate amis vacy
Smart Paring Lot
2-10 hout tine Bi!
Metered Pariding
Loss/structur
Aver
Pay by coin calen
& Accessibie Pariting
GiC Bike Parking
..... Blice Route
Bus Stop
One Way Street
DOWNTOWN
CHICO
GODOWNTOWNCHICQ.COM
The image shows a map of parking lots in Chico's core downtown area.
The technology used by the parking system has changed over time. Many original mechanical meters that operated by inserting coins and turning a dial were replaced in 2015 by smart meters that accepted credit cards. The smart units proved to have a number of drawbacks. They were powered by batteries and a small solar cell. Those that were installed in the shadow of a tall building experienced a high rate of battery failure. They cost around 1500 dollars each and served only one parking space. Unlike the mechanical meters that could be repaired by city staff, more complex repairs to the electronics of smart meters required shipping the unit to the manufacturer. Moreover, both the newer smart meters and the old mechanical type were targets of theft and vandalism. City staff reports that such incidents particularly increased after the Camp Fire, when locks were sometimes punched out of all meters on a block. The loss of coins was manageable but replacing the meter's locks and access doors commonly cost 75 to 200 dollars each.
In the face of these limitations the City engaged Dixon Resources Unlimited to produce a detailed Downtown Access Action Plan, which it delivered in March 2019. Dixon conducted surveys of stakeholders, analyzed parking use in downtown Chico and compared smart parking systems used by a number of west coast cities comparable in size to Chico. The firm noted that Chico State had already deployed Smart Kiosks 17 running the Passport payment system a few years earlier. Installation of a different system in downtown Chico could cause confusion on the part of drivers who park in both areas. Consequently, Dixon recommended that Chico use the same equipment and payment system. The City also accepted its recommendation that parking enforcement be done by vehicles equipped with License Plate Reader (LPR) technology which download payment information from the smart kiosks and compare it with the plates of vehicles parked in the zone. Chico did a limited test deployment of the kiosk system in 2022 and implemented it fully in March 2023.
DISCUSSION
The smart kiosks have worked very well from the standpoint of reliability, security and enforcement. Kiosks are located one per side of the street on each block of the two-hour zone. They have much sturdier protection for the coin vault, whose greater capacity reduces the frequency of collections; to date, none of the kiosks has been broken into. Work hours for maintenance is about one-fourth that of the previous smart meters and costs are reduced considerably. Enforcement is also much easier as LPR-equipped vehicles can drive slowly through parking zones automatically issuing citations for violations.
Public acceptance of the new system has been more problematic though the evidence is anecdotal rather than based upon a scientific survey. There have been complaints that the kiosk user screen is hard to read and the instructions are unnecessarily complicated. Some accounts highlight difficulties with parking as a significant contributor to the closure of decades-old businesses such as Colliers Hardware, Tomfoolery and Smokin' Moes. Business owners relate that they have stepped out of their stores to help frustrated drivers pay for parking. There are accounts that some longtime customers simply refuse to shop downtown because of difficulties with the new system. Some press reports and letters to the Chico Enterprise Record have reflected this negative sentiment. The City's Department of Public Works acknowledges that it has received several complaints about the kiosk user interface.
Based upon this feedback, Public Works deployed a new interface in November 2025 that:
• replaced a background picture that could obscure instructions with a plain screen;
• edited or eliminated steps and instructions that complaints identified as confusing; and
• simplified the data entry requirements.
18 The Grand Jury commends the Department of Public Works for welcoming feedback and acting upon it. That Department reports that complaints have fallen since the November 2025 rollout. Chico Police Department enforcement personnel likewise say that the number of citations being issued has fallen, suggesting that drivers find it easier to comply.
The 2019 Downtown Access Action Plan contained a chapter on "Education and Outreach" that offered recommendations to ease the transition to a smart kiosk system.
This included using the Go! Downtown Chico Website for this purpose, creating on-line video instructions, using social media to familiarize Chico residents with the system, and using the Downtown Ambassador's program to help users. The latter recommendation was deployed but others were either not acted upon or not pursued in a sustained fashion. For example, Grand Jurors found that the Go! Downtown Chico webpage was two years out of date and only one instructional video with distracting background noise came up on a web search. After Jurors pointed this out to City staff they updated the parking information on the Chicoca.gov website.
METHODOLOGY
The Civil Grand Jury collected information through the following means and from the following sources:
• Conducted nine in person interviews with City of Chico employees, elected officials, the Downtown Business Association staff and downtown building owners.
• Reviewed and used the City of Chico website.
https://www.chicoca.gov
• Reviewed and used the Downtown Chico Business Association website. https://www.downtownchico.com
• Reviewed City of Chico, CA Downtown Access Action Plan https://chicoca.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Traffic-Engineering/Downtown-Ac cess-Plan/
• Reviewed Amendment No.2 City of Chico - Contractual Services Agreement.
Turbo Data Systems Contractor. Processing of Parking and Administrative 883-003.80 50287-5310, Budget At cuters Probe MENDED EXHIBIT C
• Chico Enterprise Record Letters:
• How parking is killing our downtown 10/29/24
• Lose the parking meters, and revitalize downtown 2/17/26 • Downtown Chico is very much alive 2/19/26
19 • No parking in Chico? Try parking and walking 2/1/26 • City business association roll out downtown parking incentives 1/4/23 • Chico updates downtown parking kiosks, signs for easier use 12/6/25 Downtown parking kiosks will accept mobile payment 1/21/23 Downtown parking fees getting revamped 17/23
FINDINGS
The Butte County Civil Grand Jury finds:
F1. Smart kiosks offer cost and maintenance advantages to the City. Consumers have commented that the Passport system phone application is easy to use. The City will find it worthwhile to encourage widespread adoption of the application.
F2. The City's efforts to educate the public and assess community impact after implementation were insufficient. Some of these efforts have been made by partners such as the Downtown Chico Business Association. If the City chooses to work with outside groups to promote and explain use of the system, it should nonetheless provide effective oversight and strong leadership of the effort.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Civil Grand Jury recommends:
R1. The Chico City Council direct the City Manager to develop, either itself or using a partner group, a short instructional video on how to use the smart kiosk and how to download and use the Passport phone application. The video should be posted to appropriate websites and widely-used social media.
R2. The Chico City Council direct the City Manager to review the Go! Downtown Chico website with the Chico Downtown Business Association to determine how its parking information can be updated and improved.
R3. The Chico City Council direct the City Manager to conduct quarterly reviews of Chico parking information on City and partner websites to ensure that they are accurate and up to date. Such reviews should particularly be conducted when the City updates the kiosk system interface to ensure that changes are reflected in publicly available information.
20 REQUIRED RESPONSES
The following responses are required, pursuant to Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05:
• Chico City Council: respond to F1, F2 and R1-R3 within 90 days.
DISCLAIMER
Reports issued by the Grand Jury do not identify the individuals interviewed. Penal Code section 929 requires that reports of the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts that could lead to the identity of any person who provides information to the Grand Jury.
21 OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
411 Main Street (530) 896-7250
P.O. Box 3420 Fax: (530) 895-4825
Chico, CA 95927-3420 http://www.cl.chico.ca.us
CITYOF CHICO
NC 1872
September 15, 2026
Hon. Jesus A. Rodriguez, Judge of the Superior Court
c/o Administrative Services
Superior Court of California, County of butte
One Court Street, Oroville, CA 95965
Sent via email only
Re: Responses of the Chico City Council to the 2025-2026 Grand Jury Report The Grand Jury findings and recommendations requiring City response and the response to each are as follows:
F1. Smart kiosks offer cost and maintenance advantages to the City. Consumers have commented that the Passport system phone application is easy to use. The City will find it worthwhile to encourage widespread adoption.
Response: Implemented. Staff will continue to look for educational opportunities to assist citizens with the use of the new system. Providing informational videos online, making technical assistance available to users, and providing clear directions at the kiosks and within the app are some of the ways the City will continue to encourage users to engage with the kiosks and parking app.
F2. The City's efforts to educate the public and assess community impact after implementation were insufficient. Some of these efforts have been made by partners such as the Downtown Chico Business Association. If the City chooses to work with outside groups to promote and explain use of the system, it should nonetheless provide effective oversight and strong leadership of the effort.
Response: Implemented. Staff will continue to play an active role in these efforts and will ensure review and comment on all outside partner deliverables prior to release.
R1: The Chico City Council directs the City Manager to develop, either itself or using a partner group, a short instructional video on how to use the smart kiosk and how to download and use the Passport phone application. The video should be posted to appropriate websites and widely used social media.
Response: Partially Implemented. City staff have worked with the downtown PBID to film instructional videos for both the Passport app and the kiosk systems. The Passport app video has been completed and posted on certain PBID social media outlets. The instructional video on kiosk use is being finalized. Once completed, City staff will upload to our website and social media outlets to provide additional resources and outreach on how to use these systems. It is anticipated that this additional support material will be completed no later than December 31st, :, 2026.
Grand Jury Response
September 15, 2026
R2: The Chico City Council directs the City Manager to review the Go! Downtown Chico website with the Chico Downtown Business Association to determine how its parking information can be updated and improved.
Response: Implemented. City staff contacted the DCBA on June 26, 2026 and asked to either update the information or to take down the page to avoid confusion. DCBA General Manger, Celeste Cramer, responded that they would be happy to update the information. City staff provided Ms. Cramer with a link to the City's parking page so that the information could be updated. As of today's date, this information has been updated online.
The Chico City Council directs the City Manager to conduct quarterly reviews of Chico parking information on City and partner websites to ensure that they are accurate and up to date.
Such reviews should particularly be conducted when the City updates the kiosk system interface to ensure that changes are reflected in publicly available information.
Response: Will be implemented.
The Council was provided with the 2025-2026 Grand Jury Report on June 22, 2026 and authorized the Mayor to sign the response at its meeting of September 15, 2026.
Please feel free to reach out to the City Manager, Gillian Haen with any follow up requests at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Kasey Reynolds
Mayor, City of Chico
ATTACHMENTS
2025-2026 Grand Jury Report
Responses of the Chico City Council to the 2025-26 Grand Jury Report Page 2 of 2