A strawman email to the Berkeley City Council at council@berkeleyca.gov
Dear Members of the Berkeley City Council,
I am writing to express my concern about the city’s response to our structural deficit, the proposal to close Fire Station 4, and the November sales tax increase.
In 2008 the city asked us, with measure GG, to tax ourselves further by accepting an additional parcel pax in order to keep fire stations open. We agreed, and have been paying this parcel tax ever since.
In 2020, the city asked us, with measure FF, to increase our taxes again by accepting an additional parcel tax in order to pay for more fire services and emergency response. We agreed. We are also paying this parcel tax every year.
The city of Berkeley now faces a grave structural budget deficit, while, in the past 8 years, our deferred maintenance and unfunded capital needs have increased by $150M per year.
We are glad the city is finally addressing this problem rather than using the budget gimmicks used in the past. But the response to the general budget deficit should not be to decrease fire services and close fire stations for which we are being assessed special taxes that we have volunteered to bear. It should be to prioritize the budget process across all city activities, and cut activities based on these priorities.
This recommendation is not new. In 2013, already, the city auditor, working with the Goldman School of Public Policy, recommended that the City adopt Priority Based Budgeting. Yet, 13 years later, we are still not using prioritization in our budget process.
In 2025, the City Council voted to require the residents of the Grizzly Peak and Panoramic Hill Mitigation Areas to comply with expanded defensible space requirements, for their own sake, but also for the sake of the city. It would make no sense to withdraw firefighting capabilities that support the defense of these residents, just after we have required these residents to engage in significant projects and expenses for this very purpose. Beyond these two areas, several council members ran on promises to prioritize public safety—-funding the Fire Department should be one of the very top public safety priorities for the city.
In the budget committee meeting last Thursday May 14, the withdrawal of the plan to close Fire Station 4 was linked to the passage of the November proposal for a 0.5% increase in the sales tax in Berkeley. This proposal is aimed at the general fund, and is not linked to emergency services. Whether it passes or not should not have a direct consequence on the delivery of fire services, but on the delivery of all city services.
The city must prioritize all of its services in its budget process. We have already agreed twice to pay additional taxes to support the Fire Department. We should not be expected to pay a third tax increase to retain fire services. It is time to scrutinize other areas of the budget, and, if necessary, link their continuation to the sales tax increase.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Address]