North Cook News

Claiming that it’s not “just a soda tax," Cook County Republicans are taking issue with a one-penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened drinks -- from juice and coffee to sweetened water and soda -- regular and diet.

Sean Morrison, Cook County Republican Party chairman and county commissioner for the 17th District, in a statement condemned the measure, passed on Nov. 10, as a way to fund the jurisdiction’s 2017 budget.

“This new tax would add one penny for every one ounce of a beverage drink, which means an additional $2.88 for a 24-pack of beverage drinks,” Morrison said. “This beverage tax goes too far by hitting our residents too hard in their pocketbooks, especially Chicago residents, and hurts our local businesses.”

A comprehensive number of beverages will fall under the tax, including fruit juices, teas and coffees, energy and sports drinks, enhanced and flavored waters, and both regular and diet sodas.

The local Republican Party leader took issue with the terms of the tax as well as the means, with its phrasing potentially diminishing the precise impact that beverage sales, especially on multiple bottle or can purchases.

“I firmly opposed this heavy-handed tax for multiple reasons,” Morrison said. “First, the tax purposely singles out a specific private sector industry … (and) creates a revenue stream that goes far beyond the means it is intended to serve. Second, there is still too much redundant and unnecessary spending and political clout jobs that could be cut from the 2017 budget before looking at additional taxes to fix budget shortfalls.”

“Third, this tax will cause further damage to private-sector jobs in exchange for protecting government-patronage jobs,” Morrison said. “Fourth, it further places Cook County businesses at a competitive disadvantage against our neighboring counties and the State of Indiana when just a short commute to shop across the border means lost customers and lost revenue for Cook County.”

Morrison called the policy “horrible” and predicted that it will negatively impact the local economy in the long run.

“Contrary to most public headlines that call it just a ‘soda tax,' that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said.

The party leader expressed gratitude to the hundreds of residents throughout Cook County who notified his office regarding the beverage tax.

“I appreciate the fact that many Cook County constituents have paid close attention to Cook County’s 2017 Budget Process and specifically this tax proposal,” he said.

The tax was passed by the slimmest of margins, with the Cook County board stuck in an 8-8 impasse until president Toni Preckwinkle cast her vote to break the tie, opting to favor the measure for its potential to avoid cuts in the justice and health care sectors.

With headlines touting the tax as applying to “sugary and artificially sweetened” drinks, the measure will apply to any beverage containing sugar and/or artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, which is utilized in many “lite” or diet beverages.

Opponents of the tax, such as the American Beverage Association and Illinois Retail Markets Association, fear that the tax will hit low-income consumers the hardest. (Advocates famously include former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, himself the author of the attempt to ban “Big Gulps” in New York.)

Cook County’s approach to collecting extra cash is not new. In 2015, the Cook County board increased local sales taxes and lawsuit-filing fees, and it imposed first-time taxes on amusement, ammunition, hotel stays and e-cigarette liquids.

The drink levy is predicted to generate $224 million annually, adding capital to the fiscal year 2017’s $4.9 billion budget coffers. The beverage tax is scheduled to commence in July 2017.