Philly's Soda Tax Continues To Lag Behind Expectations
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Figures from August show revenue from Philadelphia's beverage tax continues to lag behind expectations, but the mayor says he's satisfied with the results so far.
The one-and-a-half-cent an ounce tax brought in $6.6 million in August. As it has been for several months, that's still about a million short of what the city hoped for but Mayor Jim Kenney says it's in keeping with what economists consider normal for a new tax.
"As the tax gets older and more predictable in the collection, we will get better," said Kenney.
The mayor says a bigger problem is the beverage industry lawsuit challenging the tax, which is preventing the city from spending the money to expand the programs the tax is designated for: pre-K, community schools and a city facilities rebuild.
The beverage industry jumped right on the numbers, re-asserting its claim that the tax is not a sustainable source of funding for those projects.
