Subtle Reminder: You'll be Paying More at the Register by Friday

Higher sales tax in Novato? It’s not an April Fool’s Day prank. It’s for real.

Don’t forget: It was .

The rate increase from 9.0 to 9.5 percent starting April 1, matching that of San Rafael. Is it enough of a difference to make you change your shopping habits?

The half-cent bump was about 18 months in the making when it came down to the Nov. 2 vote on Measure F last fall. The result will add up to about $3 million annually over a five-year span, but about half of that will be used to buy down the city’s deficit.

More than 57 percent of voters agreed that paying a little bit more on purchases was better than having the city take a machete to an already-spare budget. Before the vote, there was talk about the city having to close the or , lay off more police and reduce services to kids and seniors if Measure F didn’t pass.

“Even as it is, we’re still going to have to show a number of people the door as of July 1,” City Manager Michael Frank said. “It’s not like we can reverse the decisions we made a year earlier about the budget. Measure F doesn’t mean we are no longer facing very tough decisions in the future.”

City staffing levels are back to 1997 levels even though there was a 13 percent increase in the population during that span. Cuts approved for the 2010-11 budget included laying off about 17 percent of city staff over a two-year span.

Councilwoman Carole Dillon-Knutson said the sales tax increase was a necessary measure, but “it’s another reason why people are making decisions to defer some big purchases, which is not what our economy needs right now.”

A Measure F Citizens Oversight Committee is being formed to advise city staff on the best ways to spend the approximate $1.5 million in revenue left over each year after the other half goes to pay down the deficit.

What do you think the city should do? What recommendations do you have?

And how do you feel about the sales tax increase?