Restaurants carry Saratoga Village's sales tax base, and several Big Basin Way storefronts sit empty, according to a progress report the City Council will hear Wednesday, Nov. 18, on efforts to keep the downtown business district healthy.
The report, from City Manager Leslie Arroyo and city planning and public works staff, follows up on a 2024 ad hoc committee led by Vice Mayor Belal Aftab and Council Member Chuck Page.
That group held community meetings, mailed about 161 postcards to Big Basin Way business and property owners, and drew 29 responses to an online survey before the council disbanded it in November 2024. The council is asked only to receive the update and give staff any further direction.
The numbers
Citywide sales tax brings in about $1.3 million a year and has been roughly flat for five years, the report says. The Village is home to 12 of the 25 businesses that generate the most sales tax in Saratoga, and ten of those are restaurants.
For the year ending in March, the top 33 Village businesses produced about $413,100 in sales tax, with restaurants accounting for 67%. Staff note that figure is not a complete Village total.
Empty windows
Under a vacant storefront ordinance adopted in June 2025, owners of a space empty more than 30 days must dress its windows with displays, art or historical exhibits. A Nov. 12 walk-through found vacancies at the Saratoga Village Shopping Center and at 14529, 14511 and 14445 Big Basin Way.
The report lists two recent closures and several new businesses, and says others are working through permits, with some vacant spaces expected to fill in the next few months.