"From messaging to implementation to rollout, anything that could go wrong with this tax did go wrong," said Commissioner John Fritchey, a Chicago Democrat and co-sponsor of the repeal ordinance.Ĭounty government hasn't seen such a backlash since 2009, when then-Board President Todd Stroger pushed through a 1 percentage-point sales tax increase. And so store owners opted to list the new tax on receipts, a reminder to consumers that the case of soda they'd purchased now cost an additional $2.88. But here, county officials said the Illinois Department of Revenue ruled the pop tax had to be applied at the cash register. In Philadelphia, a soda tax was applied to distributors, meaning it didn't show up on store receipts. The rules also meant that some restaurants taxed free refills, which diners found particularly irksome. While the tax was meant to apply to all sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages, pop drinkers demanded to know why diet beverages were hit. That, in turn, triggered more lawsuits that stoked the negative headlines and consumer frustration. 2, both retailers and their customers were confused about what drinks should be taxed. Preckwinkle prevailed in court and, when the tax went into effect Aug. Preckwinkle called for laying off hundreds of county workers if a judge tossed the pop tax, even as county taxpayers stocked up on Coke and Pepsi while hoping for a reprieve. That raised the public focus on the issue. A few days before July 1, merchants sued to block the tax. The vagaries of federal law, the Illinois Constitution and state statutes meant it took months to come up with the rules of how the tax would be put in place, and changes were still being made late in the game.įor example, county officials at one point planned to tax low-income folks receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, but the state later told them that could not be done.įor weeks, reporters warned the public the tax was about to take effect.
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