Country’s first soda tax passes

Voters in Berkeley, California became the first electorate in the nation to approve a tax on sodas and other sugary beverages, while a similar measure in San Francisco fell short.

The Berkeley measure levies a penny per ounce for sugar-sweetened beverages sold in the city, including soda, sports and energy drinks, juice with added sugar and syrups that go into sugary drinks at cafes, like Starbucks’ Frappucinos, the measure’s backers say. Diet sodas and alcohol won’t be taxed under the law. About 75% of Berkeley voters backed Measure D.

The measure was backed by public health advocates and the city’s elected leaders, who said the tax would reduce consumption of sugary drinks and raise awareness of the link between sugary drinks, diabetes and other diseases. The measure’s backers say a national soda tax in Mexico has caused people there to consume fewer sugary drinks.

The American Beverage Assn. spent $2.4 million to defeat Berkeley’s Measure D, and another $9.1 million to fight San Francisco’s Proposition E — which would have imposed a 2-cent-an-ounce tax on sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks.

While 54.5% of San Francisco voters backed the sugary drink tax, it was not enough to secure the 66.67% needed to pass it. The two-thirds threshold was required because the tax revenue would have gone to a special fund for recreation and nutrition programs in schools and parks. The Berkeley measure needed only a majority to pass because that revenue went into the city’s general fund.

In San Francisco, three supervisors who backed the measure took solace that most voters backed the tax. “With Berkeley’s results, and our numbers, we have delivered a double black eye to the beverage industry... We are excited for our allies in Berkeley, who knocked over the first domino tonight, beginning a nationwide public health movement,” supervisors Scott Wiener, Eric Mar and Malia Cohen said in a statement.

Voters in two California suburbs rejected taxes on sugary beverages in 2012, with measures in El Monte and Richmond failing by more than a two-thirds vote. Measures targeting sugary beverages have also failed in the California legislature, including one requiring warning labels on sugary sodas that sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. And in New York, a high-profile effort by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg to restrict the sale of supersized sugary beverages failed.

The Berkeley measure levies the tax on the 15 to 20 companies that contract with beverage makers to distribute their products in the city, and would be charged as part of their business license fee, backers of the measure say. The tax would not be collected from retailers or from consumers at the cash register.

Los Angeles Times staff writer Amanda Covarrubias contributed to this report.