This statement has been reprinted from the Coolidge Corner Merchants' Association website with permission of the organization.

Part of the holiday tradition in recent years has been to suspend meter collections and ticketing in Coolidge Corner on each Saturday from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Last year the Brookline Chamber of Commerce and the Coolidge Corner Merchants Association asked the Board of Selectmen not to continue the tradition, as we felt it was not in the best interest of the town.

The business community will ask Brookline Selectmen to keep the meters running on Saturdays during this holiday shopping season as well. We greatly appreciate the Selectmen voting for the meter holiday in previous years. In the spirit of the season, however, we cannot in good conscience ask Brookline to make the same sacrifice this year.

This year, Brookline, a community of 7 eclectic commercial areas surrounded by a diverse and close-knit residential population, has bigger fish to fry. With whispers of reduced state aid, 1 million dollars in new budget cuts, a pension fund shortfall, and a 1.5 million dollar increase in the Runkle School reconstruction project, it is not the time for Brookline to lose revenue opportunities.

The fact is, despite the best intentions of everyone involved, the meter holiday was ineffective. Even with a banner in the Arcade and sandwich boards at parking lot entrances, most residents and local visitors didn’t even know meters were free those particular Saturdays. This didn’t benefit civilians who mostly fed the meters anyway, local businesses who dealt with a parking shortage on those December Saturdays or the town, which lost on out on much needed revenue.

Ironically, meter violation revenue actually accounts for twice as much money as actual meter collections. So when the meters are free, whether most people know about it or not, Brookline loses out on much needed parking violation money.

What will help the business community, residents and the town of Brookline? It will help if we start to work together as partners to navigate through of this economic nightmare. The town has wisely voted to enact the Local Option Meals and Lodging Sales Tax. The problem is, we are in the worst recession since the Great Depression, so restaurant and lodging revenue is down across the board.

What can we do? For starters, Brookline can invest in a public awareness campaign to let residents know that every time they dine at Brookline restaurants, .75% of their purchase goes right back to the community. By staying in a Brookline hotel or bed & breakfast when visiting loved ones, 2% of that purchase returns to Brookline. Brookline can also invest in educating neighboring towns about all the cool dining, shopping and lodging options we have and to make sure the commercial areas stay clean and guest friendly.

You don’t think publicizing our local restaurants, hotels, and B & Bs will make a difference to our town’s financial concerns? If promoted correctly, the sales tax from the meals revenue alone could exceed 1 million dollars. Simply put, if our restaurants are full, we bring in more money to the town coffers than if our restaurants are empty or shut down as has already happened to too many eating establishments in 2009. When restaurants do well there is a much better chance independent businesses surrounding them will survive.

How does this help the average Brookline resident? According to http://www.the350project.net , for every $100 spent at a local independent business, $68 stays in that local community in the form of taxes, employment and other expenditures. The site also states that according to a U.S. Labor Department report, if half the employed population of this country spent $50 in locally-owned independent businesses, it would generate more than 42.6 billion dollars in revenue for local communities. What kind of community would benefit more than one with lots of independent businesses like Brookline?

How else can we collectively help our community? We can ask the town to replace the 9 parking meters it shut down on Harvard Street. Their loss willcost the town $75,000 in meter and ticket revenue alone, not to mention potential loss in commercial real estate tax revenue. We can make a decision, as a community, not to tamper with the town’s Commercial Area Coordinator position, which costs less than 9 parking meters and ensures our commercial areas maintain their financial vitality and vibrancy. This benefits everyone.

Here’s my suggestion. Activate the 9 parking meters on Harvard Street, take that $75,000, add it to money derived from the parking meter and ticket revenue collected each Saturday during the holiday season as well as 1% of the Local Sales Tax Option revenue our struggling restaurants and lodging establishments collect, and invest it in ways that increase the total sales tax revenue the town can collect. This would help our local businesses in a way that is effective and add to our town’s coffers benefiting everyone that lives and works in Brookline. Hey, we might even help reduce local unemployment while we’re at it. Who decides how the money should be invested?   Why not an oversight committee made up of residents and business leaders because we’re all in this together. Happy holidays.

R. Harvey Bravman
President, Coolidge Corner Merchant Association
Board Member, Brookline Chamber of Commerce