April 4, 2016

The Honorable Mayor Libby Schaaf

1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, 3rd Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Dear Mayor Schaaf and members of the Oakland City Council:
The California Retailers Association strongly urges you not to advance a local
distribution tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.
The nature of a distribution tax is such that the cost of doing business in Oakland
will increase, but it will not change consumer behavior. Economic data and
scientific research confirm that taxes such as the one being considered by the
City Councils Rules Committee on April 7, have no meaningful impact on health
but can be exceedingly difficult and costly for local businesses.
As weve seen in neighboring Berkeley, the burden of tracking thousands of
beverages, and ultimately paying the tax, falls squarely on retailers. Furthermore,
retailers have been forced to either absorb the price increases as a cost of doing
business or distribute the increase among all products in the store not merely
on beverages. These responses allow local stores to remain competitive with the
greater Bay Area.
At a time when retailers are adding operating costs in order to raise wages,
provide healthcare and introduce additional benefits for workers, passing a
beverage tax in Oakland would be incredibly cumbersome. Furthermore, an
increase in overall prices at retail stores is regressive and hits folks who can least
afford added grocery and retail prices.
There are more effective avenues to raise funds for general city purposes, and
there are also more effective measures to improve the health of residents. If the
tax moves forward, retailers are certain to reconsider plans to expand and
relocate to Oakland. The city should focus on policies that welcome and support
retailers and the jobs that come with them.

Please do not support a discriminatory tax on common retail products in

Oakland, and please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
The California Retailers Association is the only statewide trade association
representing all segments of the retail industry including general merchandise,
department stores, mass merchandisers, restaurants, convenience stores,
supermarkets and grocery stores, chain drug, and specialty retail such as auto,
vision, jewelry, hardware and home stores. CRA works on behalf of Californias
retail industry, which currently operates over 418,840 retail establishments with a
gross domestic product of $330 billion annually and employs 3,211,805 people
one fourth of Californias total employment.
Sincerely,

Bill Dombrowski
President & CEO
cc:

Oakland City Council Members