Opinion: State bill letting cities profit from stolen carts could cost customers

While California is known for setting the pace for the rest of the country when it comes to matters of innovation and technology, it has also earned a reputation for passing laws that make life harder for the average Californian. This, unfortunately, looks to be the case in the City of San Jose.

As co-founder and owner of Arteaga’s Food Center, an independent Hispanic grocer with locations across Northern California, including San Jose, I know firsthand that customers are looking to save money on their weekly shopping trips.

However, San Jose and its mayor, Matt Mahan, on the other hand, are exploring ways to generate revenue at the expense of affordability for their constituents and my shoppers.

In an effort to clean up the city, San Jose recently passed an ordinance to address stolen and abandoned shopping carts. Part of the ordinance requires grocery carts to either have locking wheels or a deposit mechanism; or it requires grocers to contract with third parties to collect stolen and abandoned carts — all of which are already best practices in cities across the state. As a grocer, these are solutions I can get behind.

The problematic provision of the ordinance, however, involves the city inserting itself into the business of shopping cart retrieval. It allows San Jose to create its own cart retrieval pilot program while the city also pushes for a state bill, SB 753, authored by Sen. David Cortese, D-San Jose, that would allow local governments to charge grocers to return stolen and abandoned carts at an uncapped rate.

To put it simply, this bill would turn grocers’ stolen property into a revenue source for cities. Picture this: someone goes into your yard and steals a package off your porch. Then, when you go retrieve it from the police department, you are charged a fee to get it back. At the most basic level, this defies the very principles of right and wrong that we are taught as children.

Not only does this bill contradict common logic, but it would also raise grocery prices. Even as California’s legislative leaders pledge to make daily life more affordable in the state. In an unpredictable economy, I can’t picture shoppers of my own family business favoring a redundant system for cart retrieval over affordable groceries.

Currently to retrieve carts, grocers pay a fixed cost per load of carts retrieved. If this bill is passed and cities charge grocers to recoup costs per cart instead of by load, we estimate our costs would rise by eight- to tenfold. With slim industry profit margins of 1.6% on average, this would undoubtedly result in higher prices on store shelves.

Not to mention, one of the more concerning components of this bill is that it makes no effort to solve the root cause. It does nothing to address the stolen carts in the first place or provide aid to those needing a way to transport their goods. It’s a shame the city couldn’t have focused its efforts on legislation to offer support to those in need, not drive up grocery costs.

With matters of community safety, affordability and investment in jobs and housing top of mind for people in San Jose, I doubt anyone will be thrilled with the city spending its energy and resources on managing the city’s carts, especially when there is already a system in place for grocers to do so. That’s why we call on the San Jose City Council and the California Legislature to focus on making life safer and more affordable for their constituents — and leave the business of carts to grocers.

Lupe Lopez owns Arteaga’s Food Center, a San Jose grocery store.