SEATTLE -- Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is hoping to bring in an another $16 million coming from a tax on soda and sugary drinks.
It's a two-pronged approach:
• Make money off people who consume sugary beverages and put that back into the system to help the poorest residents, specifically through education.
• Create a deterrent, so people will make healthier choices to help cut down on obesity and diabetes.
The proposal calls for a two-cents per ounce tax to raise $16 million for the city. So how much will that cost you?
Let's say a 20-ounce bottle of Coke costs about $1.50. Add 40 cents of tax and it's now $1.90.
A 2-liter bottle on sale for $1.99 would be hit with a tax of $1.35 for a total of $3.34.
"Other cities including Boulder and San Francisco, Philadelphia and Oakland have passed similar policies both to fund youth services and to achieve positive public health impacts," said Murray in his State of the City address Tuesday.
Berkeley voters were the first in the country to pass such a tax. It's 1-cent per ounce and took effect in January of 2015. So far it's raised a little more than $2 million, which is a bit lower than expected.
Money aside, The "American Journal of Public Health" released a study last June which found the consumption of sugary drinks was down 21% over a four-month period in Berkeley's poorest neighborhoods, while water consumption was up.
The Philadelphia soda tax took effect last month and it was reported Wednesday that supermarkets and beverage distributors are gearing up for layoffs because beverage sales are down 30 percent to 50 percent -- worse than the city predicted.
City officials expect business to rebound once customers get over sticker shock. They suggest the industry may be engaging in fearmongering to stop the spread of the tax to other cities.
The 1.5-cents per ounce tax in Philadelphia was imposed by the city as a way to rake in $91 million a year. There has been plenty of backlash in the City of Brotherly Love because voters didn't get a say.
Boulder and Oakland's taxes were both voter approved, and Chicago's Cook County is adding a tax approved by the county council. All those take effect in July.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
