After months of debate, this week the Philadelphia City Council passed Mayor Kenney’s large regressive tax hike on sugar-sweetened drinks by a 13-4 vote. Passage of this tax hike means Philadelphia will become the first major city to institute a so-called “soda tax.”
“With the highest poverty rate among the nation’s largest cities, Mayor Kenny’s regressive tax hike will hurt struggling Philadelphians the most,” said Clark Packard, National Taxpayers Union’s (NTU) Counsel and Government Affairs Manager. “This was a classic bait and switch by big spending politicians. The Mayor pitched this tax hike as a way to fund universal pre-school, but shortly before the vote, it became apparent that the Mayor planned to divert some of the revenue to Philadelphia’s general fund.”
NTU has written in opposition to the Philadelphia’s misguided soda tax in the recent past. As always, we will continue to monitor these developments and alert taxpayers to the risks posed by big taxing, big spending politicians.