By Tim Redmond
Berkeley isn’t in the financial mess San Francisco is, and while you can’t compare the two cities at all — SF is a city and county, has far more people and much more demand for services — there are two telling points in today’s Chronicle story:`
While sales tax revenues have plummeted elsewhere, they’ve actually risen in Berkeley. (Union City, Albany and Alameda were the only others in Alameda county to see a year-to-year rise.)
The sales tax increase is due, in part, to the quirky nature of the Berkeley economy. The city has virtually no big-box retailers. Instead of shopping malls, the city has clusters of stores in various neighborhoods, Elmwood to Solano Avenue.
The result is that “during times of prosperity, we don’t grow that much,” said Kamlarz. “And during downturns, we don’t decline that much.”
In other words, a diversified economy of local small businesses is more sustainable and better in tough times than one based on big chains.
The other:
Of course, this couldn’t happen without city voters who continue to tax themselves at among the highest levels in the state. Libraries, fire stations and school measures all continue to get support.
You want good libraries, good schools and no fire-station closures? Be willing to pay for them.
Of course, this shouldn’t be seen as any sort of surprising news.