By Whitney Jani ’18
The new sweetened beverage tax in Cook County has taken its citizens for a whirl. This new tax has been implemented on soda, juices, energy drinks, coffees and teas. This tax was passed back in November of 2016 with claims of it being imposed to promote a healthier community. However, many people are growing tired of continuous taxes, especially on items that many people purchase on a day to day basis, and their anger is rightly deserved.
The new tax, put into effect Aug. 2, places a $0.01 tax per ounce of a beverage. For example, a 24 ounce bottle of Gatorade that originally costed $1.00 plus the sales tax would now cost an extra $0.24. Might not seem like a lot, right? For a 12 pack of soda, the cost could be increased by over $1.50.
This new tax is sure to make many shoppers begin to reconsider the items that they place in their carts, but many shoppers are both confused and outraged on the new tax. People who still intend to buy soda are now forced to travel outside of Cook County to purchase soda without the additional tax, and it is not fair to those shoppers. This new tax is very convenient to our government in a time where our federal government struggles to solidify a budget, and Illinois remains in extreme debt. According to nbcchicago.com, “The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved the tax in November to help close a budget deficit of nearly $174.3 million, a shortfall that could result in destabilizing cuts to county services.” It is not right to add an extra tax on top of an item that almost every household buys whether you think soda is good for your health or not.
This tax causes people to potentially be unable to afford something they were previously accustomed to buying and drinking. More tax should be placed on things like alcohol and cigarettes in order to cover the payment for the debt that we are in. These items already have taxes, but they are not an everyday purchased item in the same way that soda is, and alcohol and cigarettes do arguably more harm to the body than soda does.
Since the tax has been implemented, there have been many attempts to appeal it. According to cookcountyrecord.com, “A state appeals court has rejected Cook County’s attempt to lift a stay on the county’s new so-called soda tax, directing a Cook County judge to proceed with plans to hear arguments on whether enforcement of the tax should be more permanently blocked.”
Although many attempts have been made, and many more attempts will probably be made in the future, Cook County seems to be staying firm on this tax. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that this is going to be changed any time soon. This tax may be here to stay for a while, and shoppers should be prepared to continue to either cut out or reduce their soda purchases if they do not want to be subjected to these unfair additional charges that continue to drain taxpayers pockets.
