A few weeks ago the Seattle City Auditor issued a new evaluation report on the city’s Sweetened Beverage Tax, the latest (and perhaps the final) in a series since the tax went into effect in January 2018. And consistent with earlier reports, the findings continue to show that the tax has done little to reduce consumption of sweetened beverages.
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City-commissioned UW research report finds that the soda tax isn’t working
When the City Council passed its sweetened-beverage tax in 2017, it commissioned an ongoing study on the impact of that tax in reducing consumption of sugared beverages. Two months ago I reported that the UW team that landed the contract to do the study had yet to deliver a report on 2018 data. But today, the City auditor finally released that report. Its main finding: the soda tax had no effect on the amount of sweetened beverages consumed by low-income children and their parents.
Continue readingTwo years in, we still don’t know if Seattle’s soda tax is working
In June of 2017, the Seattle City Council passed a 1.75 cent-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages, which took effect on January 1, 2018. Today, over two years later, we still don’t have any idea whether it’s succeeding — or even a clear, agreed-upon definition of success. And that situation is unlikely to change soon.
Continue readingDurkan vetoed the soda tax bill; here’s what happens next
Last Friday Mayor Jenny Durkan vetoed the ordinance setting new restrictions on how Sweetened Beverage Tax revenues can be spent. Vetoes are incredibly rare in Seattle City Hall, so that sent everyone (including me) scrambling to the City Charter to see what happens next. Yes, we all know in theory how it works, but the details matter.
Continue readingCouncil passes restrictions on soda tax and AirBnB tax spending
This afternoon the City Council passed, each by a 7-1 vote, a pair of bills that set up separate funds into which the Sweetened Beverage Tax and Short-term Rental Tax revenues must be deposited, along with stricter rules for how the revenues may be spent — despite a threat from Mayor Durkan to veto the bills.
Continue readingCouncil and Mayor hold public spat over “soda tax” and “AirBnB tax” (UPDATED)
In their second major rift this week, today the City Council and Mayor Durkan fired accusations at each other over how to handle revenues from the Sweetened Beverage Tax (aka the “soda tax”) and the Short-term Rental Tax (aka the “AirBnB tax”).
Continue readingThe Sweetened Beverage Tax spending plan is still a mess, and there’s plenty of blame to spread around
This past Wednesday, the City Council met in committee to discuss the Sweetened Beverage Tax passed two years ago. At issue is how the revenues generated from the tax should be spent. To their credit, city officials are at least being honest about the mess they’ve created.
Continue readingThere’s plenty of bad faith actors in City Hall when it comes to the sweetened beverage tax
In June of 2017 the City Council passed a sales tax on sweetened beverages, to take effect on January 1, 2018. Now, with some initial data in hand, the Mayor and City Council are deciding how to spend the tax revenues over the next two years. But things haven’t turned out the way the experts predicted, raising questions about whether the “soda tax” was such a good idea in the first place. It equally raises questions about the motives of the city officials charting the tax’s future.
Continue readingMonday news roundup: Key Arena and the soda tax
This afternoon’s vote on the soda tax, and the withdrawal of one of the two proposals to renovate Key Arena, top this morning’s news.
Continue readingBurgess explains why the soda tax is being rushed through
This afternoon, Council member Tim Burgess finally responded to my week’s worth of inquiries and explained why the proposed legislation creating a tax on distribution of sweetened beverages is being rushed through the legislative process despite obvious differences of opinion among Council members, the Mayor, community members, and business and labor leaders on major aspects of the legislation and indeed whether the tax should even be levied. It turns out Burgess’s explanation makes some sense, even if it may not fully justify the final sprint to the finish line.
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