One of the central challenges confronting Boston today is how to guarantee public safety during a time of transformation and change. It's not enough just to be tough on crime. We need to be tough on the causes of crime, too.

That's the notion behind our proposal to make our community more secure by dedicating a nickel from every $10 spent on goods and services inside the city limits to a special public safety fund. The goal? A comprehensive three-pronged strategy to increase the peace, stop the violence, and protect our citizens in their homes, schools, businesses, and streets.

Here's how it would work. Every retail sale in Boston would be subject to an additional one-half of one-percent fee for a special public safety fund. This would bring in an estimated $35 million each year to supplement current spending so that we can put more police officers on the street, help prosecutors send more criminals to jail, and pay for job-training programs and other proven efforts to provide at-risk young people an alternative to a career in crime.

A nickel for public safety makes good security sense. But it's also a good idea from an economic point of view.

Last year, Boston sent nearly $364 million in sales tax revenues to the state treasury. But we didn't get back the dollars we deserve to make our own city safer from the rising tide of violent crime. Our law enforcement officers and community leaders are working overtime. But if we're going to seize control over our own security again, we're going to have to provide our own reinforcements.

It's important to reiterate that the new nickel is not designed to replace current public safety funding but to be in addition to what we already spend. Taxpayers will know exactly where the money goes five cents on top of a $10 purchase, 50 cents on top of a $100 purchase with strict accountability measures and tangible results: more police officers on the streets, fewer property crimes, less violence.

Public services must have public support to succeed. This is one that reflects our own values and self-interest in keeping our families and community safe.