We’ll start with the disappointing revenue numbers in Philadelphia generated by the City’s new soda tax for the month of August. The tax, which was projected to generate enough money to fund pre-K educational programs, community schools as well as rebuilding a number of the public facilities in the city missed its target again as…
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You win some, you lose some. As we head into the fall, franchise owners from Dunkin’ Donuts and other QSR systems have some reasons for optimism and some things to worry about as well. Increasing the minimum wage has been all the rage over the past few years, with union and other activists successfully pushing…
Read More »Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who dropped his campaign for reelection back in May, resigned this week as Mayor in the face of the fifth person (this one his younger cousin) coming forward to accuse him of child sexual abuse. Murray officially vacated the office effective at 5PM on Wednesday and City Council President Bruce Harrell…
Read More »Speaking of being in limbo, retailers in Cook County, Illinois are between the proverbial rock and the hard place as relates the county imposed tax on sugary drinks. As we advised last week, the FDA has said that collecting the tax and then giving it back as a refund violates the federal food stamp program…
Read More »In so many ways, it could be described as poetic justice, but the federal government has threatened to withhold as much as $87 million from Cook Country as a result of their imposition of a countrywide tax on sugary beverages. The rub comes from the fact that purchases made with food stamps are exempt from…
Read More »Although Cook County Circuit Judge Daniel Kubasiak had issued restraining orders previously against the new soda tax the county was imposing, it turned out to be a false hope as last Friday, Judge Kubasiak dissolved the injunction he had placed on the new penny-per-ounce levy that was to take effect July 1. When the injunction…
Read More »The appeal of the soda tax as a revenue cure-all may be fizzing out a bit based on the money the new tax levy is bringing in in the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia officials this week acknowledged that actual revenue from the 1.5 cents per ounce tax on sugary drinks came in at $6.9…
Read More »Having been rejected at both the Court of Common Pleas (initial action) and just last month, the Commonwealth Court (appellate level), plaintiffs challenging the Philadelphia soda tax this week brought the issue to the Pennsylvania state Supreme Court. The American Beverage Association, along with the Pennsylvania Beverage Association and several other local business plaintiffs, appealed…
Read More »Early this week, an Illinois appeals court upheld a temporary restraining order issued a few weeks ago against the 1 cent per ounce Cook Country soda tax. In response, county officials threatened as many as 1,100 country employees would be laid off as a result of the decision. The new tax was projected to raise…
Read More »A Cook County Circuit Judge granted a temporary injunction enjoining the implementation of the new Cook County penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages until at least July 12 and the court can hear more arguments over the validity of the issue. In granting the petition sought by the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Judge Daniel Kubasiak found…
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