Richmond, Chevron reach $550M compromise that puts brakes on November tax measure

Just hours before a deadline to pull measures off the November ballot, the Richmond City Council on Wednesday officially accepted a settlement with Chevron, bringing the city more than a half billion dollars over 10 years.

Approved by the council on June 18, the ballot proposal would have asked voters to decide whether the city should impose a $1 per barrel tax on feedstock (oil or other raw material used in the industrial process) refined at Chevron’s Richmond refinery for 50 years. A staff report for Wednesday’s meeting said the city finance director estimated it would bring Richmond $60 million to $90 million per year.