City Councilwoman Suggests Soda Tax Alternative 'Bottle Tax'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney's proposal to tax sugary beverages has generated some strong opposition, despite nearly universal support for the programs it would fund.
One city council member believes she's found an alternative that may be more palatable.
Mayor Kenney's proposal would add 36 cents to a 12 ounce can of soda, about $2 to a two liter bottle. Councilwoman Reynolds Brown's bill would add a flat 15 cents to any container, regardless of what beverage it holds, accomplishing, she says, several things.
"A: Be less regressive, B: will be more sustainable, C: will cast a wider net and be broader in its scope, allowing us to get to the same goal," Brown said.
Well, not quite the same.
She acknowledges it will raise about $30 Million less than the soda tax but still thinks the idea is worth vetting, as does the council President, according to his spokesperson.
The Mayor's Office, however, dismissed the idea as "nibbling around the edges" of the poverty problem the mayor is trying to solve. And the soda-industry-funded opposition also rejected it as still unfair to one industry.