The City of Davis could soon turn to a Berkeleyesque soda tax to get it out of a financial pinch. City leaders recently voted to consider placing the item on the June 2016 ballot, despite impassioned objections from local business owners, and the potential impacts of such a policy are now being studied by city staff.
A tax on sugary beverages is just one of several proposals being considered, as the city looks for ways to raise revenue for public works projects. A proposal to raise the utility tax was rejected by the city council last month, but a hotel tax hike and a new parcel tax remain on the table.
Davis city staff believe a tax on sodas and other sugary drinks could bring in an estimated $800,000 to $1 million during the first year. They estimate that an increased hotel tax would yield $130,000 for each percentage point raised, while a parcel tax could bring in $28,000 for each dollar increase.
In 2014, the City of Berkeley made history with its unprecedented penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-laden drinks. Although the levy has yielded a modest rise in revenue for the city, a recent Cornell-University of Iowa study shows it hasn’t reduced soda consumption as much as health advocates would have liked.
Read more about the recent vote here.
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