Baltimore City Okays Bottled Beverage Tax

The two-penny tax would expire after three years.

June 28, 2010

BALTIMORE - Late last week, the Baltimore City Council passed a 2-cent tariff on bottled drinks, the Baltimore Sun reports. The beverage industry and retailers heatedly opposed the tax.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had initially wanted a four-penny tax, but was opposed by council members. The two-penny tax compromise will end in three years.

Thus far this year, Baltimore seems to be the only municipality to tax bottled beverages, as similar proposals met with defeat in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. "It will affect businesses and jobs just as it did before," said Ellen Valentino, an industry lobbyist. Valentino referred to a comparable tax in the mid-1990s.

The council has earmarked the tax proceeds €" $5.7 million annually €" to keep the jobs of 47 city workers and provide funds for graffiti removal, street cleaning and trash-skimming nets around the Inner Harbor.

Baltimore has been considering such a tax for a few months. At the emergency meeting called to discuss the city€™s budget, it appeared that the tax would not pass given its original 4-cent amount. But Councilwoman Helen Holton, who at first voted against the tax, brokered a compromise with a lower rate of 2 cents. The council passed the tax by an 8-4 vote during an emergency meeting.

The mayor€™s budget proposal had the bottled beverage tax as its centerpiece. Baltimore is facing a $121 million deficit in its $2.2 billion budget.

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