# Seattle Charging A Hefty Fee For Sugary Drinks

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seattle-charging-a-hefty-fee-for-sugary-drinks/806119>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 8, 2018, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seattle-charging-a-hefty-fee-for-sugary-drinks/806119 "2018-01-08T07:51:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seattle-charging-a-hefty-fee-for-sugary-drinks/806119/41 "2018-01-09T19:16:07Z")

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> [@Lord\_Feldon](#):
>
> But the city seems to be [claiming](https://www.seattle.gov/business-license-tax/other-seattle-taxes/sweetened-beverage-tax) that the tax isn’t intended to raise prices for consumers:
> 
> So, if you believe that, they _aren’t_ trying to discourage use. It’s evidently supposed to be a magic tax that will give the money tree a little shake.

As I said, I’m not in Seattle, but in my town the tax is added to the soda price. I don’t recall any claims that the consumer wouldn’t pay it.

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seattle-charging-a-hefty-fee-for-sugary-drinks/806119/42 "2018-01-09T19:25:03Z")

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> [@Orwell](#):
>
> A good thing in some minds, that’s one of the justifications. But it’s social engineering by tax code, which I don’t support. And in the end, these types of targeted taxes are almost always intended to hit “other people”, not supporters of the tax who have power and influence. And they usually have negative consequences for local residents and businesses.

Do you feel the same way about cigarette taxes?

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**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seattle-charging-a-hefty-fee-for-sugary-drinks/806119/43 "2018-01-09T19:54:33Z")

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> [@Voyager](#):
>
> Do you feel the same way about cigarette taxes?

Yes, and alcohol taxes. I don’t smoke, and think it’s a nasty habit, but I don’t like the government implementing different taxes for different things. They should tax the bare minimum, and not try to engineer behavior. Or, at the very least, taxes should be reasonably similar from place to place, to discourage smuggling and gray markets, which happens with heavily-taxed items.

FWIW, I feel the same way about property taxes. I disagree with the idea that current residents pay a lower tax than neighbors who just moved in, as (I believe) it’s done in CA. If Neighbor A owns a $300k house, he should be paying the same property tax as Neighbor B in a $300k house, no matter how long each has been there.

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seattle-charging-a-hefty-fee-for-sugary-drinks/806119/44 "2018-01-09T21:36:59Z")

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It’s not quite “social engineering via taxation” when you have this:

> [@](#):
>
> Revenue generated by the (Seattle) tax will go to fund a variety of city programs from reducing the education achievement gap to promoting nutrition.

In other words, it’s a general fund tax with a do-gooder patina.

Same problem with hefty cigarette taxes where a relative pittance goes to health care to deal with smoking-related disease and/or smoking cessation programs, and most gets plowed into other spending.

Or cameras set up to identify red-light runners. My state recently banned such cameras due to the perception they were a cash cow for municipalities, which weren’t careful about operating them properly so long as the money flowed in. I suspect public resistance would be less if the funds raised from traffic camera fines were devoted to improving traffic safety.

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