by Victoria Compton, Executive Director, San Juan County Economic Development Council
It doesn’t seem like such a big deal, hopping aboard the ferry to spend a day shopping on the mainland. What fun to check out the scintillating decorations, to spend some money at the mall, to have lunch away from home.
But let’s pencil out the math. You’ll spend $29.18 for ferry fare if you use a commuter book, $35.05 if you don’t. $2.50 a gallon for gas; figure at least a few gallons burned. $10-20 for lunch. Average cost per trip: $54.62. You’ll need to add that cost to what you spend when you get to the mall.
Okay, hold onto that figure and let’s work through the rest of the economics of your shopping trip.
When you spend a dollar locally, at least 33 cents* will stay here to be reinvested in our community – partly through direct expenditures and partly through taxes that pay for governmental services. When you spend a dollar off-island, not one penny of it comes back to the islands.
That means you’ll be working a little harder back home to pay for the fact that 33% less money will have the chance to work its way back to you. People who rely on the goods or services that you provide won’t have as much money to spend with you.
You may start to earn less because the business you work for can’t afford to pay you as well because they’re trying to compete with mainland businesses and can only cut costs by cutting wages. In addition, as revenue from sales tax is reduced, local government has only one other source to raise revenue – through raising taxes.
As more money is spent off-island, less money is available locally to support and create jobs, and for community improvement and development. Local business people will also have less to spend on local charitable giving.
All of this can cycle viciously – the worse it gets, the worse it will get. This year – more than any other year in recent memory – it’s critical to consider more than the few dollars you think you might save by traveling to the mainland to shop.
Neighbors, I ask you to consider what you want your community to look like. Consider your friends who work alongside you here. Consider the message you want your kids to learn this holiday season. Consider the reason you may have moved here originally – to join the community of neighborly people who make the islands such a wonderful place to live. A community you’d like to see continue to thrive and improve.
Please – shop wisely this season. Shop locally.
* While some studies have shown that shopping locally keeps as much as 70% of each dollar spent within the community, a rate of 33% is appropriate for the San Juan Islands as most retail products are produced elsewhere and shipped here. Of course, for locally produced products, the rate of dollars remaining in the community is much higher, in some cases even exceeding 70%. For more information: http://localfirstaz.com/downloads/procurement-matters.pdf, http://www.andersonvillestudy.com/AndersonvilleSummary.pdf, http://www.ptvermont.org/publications/HomegrownEconomy/Homegrown%20Economy.pdf