Soda tax passes - in Baltimore
Philadelphia City Hall and political coverage from the Philadelphia Inquirer City Hall bureau.
Soda tax passes - in Baltimore
Marcia Gelbart
The so-called soda tax, which died a quick death in Philadelphia, is alive and well in Baltimore, where that city's Councilmembers on Friday approved of the new levy to close a sizable budget gap.
Baltimore's public officials said yes to a two-cent per bottle tax for the next three years.
"Officials say proceeds of the tax, which officials estimate at $5.7 million each year, will prevent layoffs of 47 workers and fund street cleaning, graffiti removal and the maintenance of trash-skimming nets in the Inner Harbor," according to the Baltimore Sun. Read the story here.
The tax- for a limited number of years, unlike the Philadelphia's proposal - helped Baltimore close a $121 million hole in its $2.2 billion budget.
But why did the proposal pass in Baltimore but not in Philadelphia, where Mayor Nutter pushed for it as a way of generating an extra $77 million a year?
Did Baltimore's mayor lay out a more strategic argument in favor of the tax? Were Philadelphia officials more easily pushed around by the beverage industry lobby? Or was it because the 2-cent bottle tax was not pitched as part of an anti-obesity campaign?
Whatever the answers, Nutter and Philadelphia City Council members will now be observers of the tax's impact in Baltimore, including whether the lobbyists were right about the levy leading to job losses.
Click here for Philly.com's politics page.
I think the difference is Baltimore's tax is on single serve bottled beverages (rather than bottled & poured drinks, both large & small) and the proceeds are used for cleanup (rather than as a slush fund).— MASTERNC- I think the difference is Baltimore's tax is on single serve bottled beverages (rather than bottled & poured drinks, both large & small) and the proceeds are used for cleanup (rather than as a slush fund).— MASTERNC
Comment removed.- Two reasons why it didn't pass in Philly, but it did in Baltimore. First, in Philly, the proposal was 2 cents per ounce, which is 40 cents more for a 20oz bottle, or $1.35 more for a 2 liter. In Baltimore, it's only 2 cents per bottle. Big difference. And, in Baltimore, they passed it for a particular time period (3 years). In Philly, I heard no such proposal. Coincidently, here in Baltimore County, where the tax is not levied, the price of soda just went up about 10%. Funny how that happens, huh?— Bigdawg1513
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Nutter is probably having a hissy fit right about now.— Smokey
- A good way to save money: have your residents stop throwing trash in the harbor.— SirEdward
- The job loss argument is a joke. People would just buy the diet alternatives or water.— NickFromGermantown
- The job loss argument is a joke. People would just buy the diet alternatives or water.— NickFromGermantown
- El Viejo you must have never been to Baltimore.....Once you leave there 6square blocks of there down town and inner harbor...The rest of the place is a reck.— keith6
- El Viejo you must have never been to Baltimore.....Once you leave there 6square blocks of there down town and inner harbor...The rest of the place is a reck.— keith6
- Has Baltimore had as many other tax and fee hikes in the past year or so as Philadelphia has? Have they had their sales tax AND their property tax and trash fees on business addresses raised in the same period of time? AND had no appreciable methods of slowing government growth during that interim?— anon
- Has Baltimore had as many other tax and fee hikes in the past year or so as Philadelphia has? Have they had their sales tax AND their property tax and trash fees on business addresses raised in the same period of time? AND had no appreciable methods of slowing government growth during that interim?— anon
- could it be that it was a 2 cent per bottle.... not ounce— TrainerJ
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