BALTIMORE, Md. - A group of retailers and bottlers is trying to block a proposed Baltimore city tax on bottled beverages, Baltimore Business Journal reports.

The possible tax is being considered by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as one way to help reduce the city??s $120 million budget gap.

Opponents of the measure include Santoni??s Supermarket, whose spokesperson said that a city soda tax would cause many Baltimore residents to shop outside of the city where there is no tax.

"That hits them in the pocket book," said Robert Santoni Jr., comptroller of Santoni??s, whose company is a member of the Stop the Baltimore Beverage Tax group. "That is an immediate impact to their daily living."

Santoni said that his Baltimore supermarket lost roughly $500,000 a year from customers who moved their shopping across city lines after a similar tax was imposed in 1989. The tax was subsequently repealed.

City Councilwoman Rochelle Spector opposes the tax for the same reasons as Santoni.

"I??m afraid they??d go to the Giant [grocery store] in the county, not the Giant in the fifth district," Spector said, referring to her northwest Baltimore jurisdiction.

Mayoral spokesperson Ryan O??Doherty said that a final decision would come April 12, when a spending plan is released. "The city faces [a] $120 million budget deficit and the mayor is working on a comprehensive plan to close that deficit," he said.