Eight U.S. cities have soda taxes, and all of them are blue cities in blue states. Remember Michael Bloomberg’s tax on Big Gulps.
In Berkeley – the California Capital of Crazy – there’s a 1 cent per ounce tax which passed back in 2015.
The city pols now wants to double the tax, which would mean a near 25 cents for a can of Coke or Pepsi – clearly a regressive tax.
Berkeley is a struggling city with many homeless encampments, poorly maintained streets and seedy neighborhoods.
Where has the soda tax money gone? The biggest single recipient? A program called Healthy Black Families, which has collected millions even though only 8% of Berkeley residents are African-American.
The California Post reports the group has “conflicting compensation figures, massive expenses that don’t add up and hundreds of thousands of dollars in unexplained legal fees.” Its accounting firm said it couldn’t answer questions, citing tax-filing deadlines.
Taxpayers also funded two grants of nearly $125,000 for a project called “Artists Against Soda.”