Kenney Proposes Soda Tax

Who doesn’t love a nice soda once in a while? Whether you call it soda, pop, Coke, or cola, the idea is the same – a sugary, carbonated beverage that Americans love and that dietitians blame for the uptick in obesity and diabetes across the country. Now, Mayor Jim Kenney has proposed a hefty tax on sugary drinks, one that would in part help fund universal pre-K education for Philadelphia’s children.

Kenney’s plan would impose a 3-cent-per-ounce tax on all sugary beverages. 

Kenney proposed the tax during a city council meeting yesterday. Full details of the plan are expected to be unveiled during a budget meeting Thursday. This would be the city council’s third attempt to levy a tax on sugary drinks. Kenney, who voted against his predecessor Michael Nutter’s proposed 2-cent tax on sodas when he sat on the council, says that he believes this one will be successful. Kenney estimates that the tax could bring in $400 million over the next five years, if implemented. The tax would be 3 cents per ounce of sugary beverage.

Universal pre-K isn’t the only initiative that would receive funding under Kenney’s plan. The tax would also fund community schools, a city councilman’s jobs plan, as well as pay back a bond for rebuilding parks and recreation centers. It would also funnel approximately $26 million into the city’s severely starved pension system, which is $5.7 billion in debt.

Speaking about the soda tax and why it would work this time, Kenney said: “There’s more evidence the funds will be used for things that people can clearly identify and council members can clearly identify with. Before, there was no identifiable project or projects tied to it. It was first about obesity, which none of us thought was real, and then it was about filling a budget gap and it didn’t work.”