Richmond and El Monte may have been the first, but if one city councilman has his way, they won’t be the last to propose a tax on sugary beverages and sodas. Richmond City Councilman Dr. Jeff Ritterman, spearheaded the Richmond tax and hopes to place a similar measure on 14 cities’ ballots in 2014.
The plan is to make the Beverage Industry, which spent $2.5 million defeating the Richmond tax, choose where to spend their money. It could mean that a few of the 14 initiatives could sneak through to passage. In November, both taxes were defeated by at least 30 points.
Some are even looking bigger than the model used in Richmond. Berkeley, for instance, is considering a sales tax on sugary beverages instead of charging the sugary tax as a part of the business license tax. By charging it as a sales tax, consumers would bear the brunt of the direct costs, instead of having it fall on small businesses, a point that was made during the campaign against Measure N.
How many will ultimately ask residents for the tax will remain to be seen.
Read the full story at the San Francisco Chronicle.