How should Richmond spend its $550 million Chevron settlement? City leaders want to know

""We're in that moment where we actually do have to be as careful and as thoughtful as we can to make decisions for the future," said Vice Mayor Doria Robinson, who drafted the item with Councilmember Claudia Jimenez and Mayor Eduardo Martinez. We're making a huge turning point for our city if we do it right. Or we can do it like the way people who win the lottery, go out and buy a bunch of fancy things and then be broke in 10 years."

"The $550 million Richmond is poised to collect stems from an agreement it negotiated with the Richmond Chevron Refinery. In exchange for the funds, the council agreed to remove a tax measure, dubbed the Make Polluters Pay campaign, from the November 2024 ballot. If approved by voters, the measure would have brought in between $60 million and $90 million annually by charging Chevron for every barrel of raw material that was processed at the plant."

Richmond will collect $550 million under an agreement with the Richmond Chevron Refinery in exchange for removing a proposed tax measure from the November 2024 ballot. The city council allocated up to $300,000 to contract support to facilitate community feedback on how the funds should be spent. The effort aims to fund neighborhood improvements and to develop a just transition away from the fossil fuel industry while ensuring community buy-in. The Make Polluters Pay measure would have raised $60 million to $90 million annually by charging Chevron per barrel processed. Two local environmental nonprofits endorsed the council’s plan and members of the public voiced support.

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