Frustrated Oakland business owners threaten to stop paying taxes NBC Bay Area [Video]

Some frustrated Oakland business owners are warning the city they will stop paying taxes until the city starts providing them safer neighborhoods to operate in.

Organizers are asking more small business owners to join them and force the city to provide more police patrols and protection.

In the past two years, La Perla Puerto Rican Cuisine, a family-owned restaurant on Fruitvale Avenue, has been robbed twice at gunpoint.

Owner Jose Ortiz said he rarely sees police patrols despite the numerous armed holdups that have plagued the neighborhood for the past two years.

“We’re proposing not to pay taxes to the city until you give me the services that we deserve,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz, an Oakland native, said in addition to the multiple robberies, he’s seen a 25% drop in business, and customers are staying away because they don’t feel safe.

“We’re not the only ones,” he said. “We’re all in …