ANAHEIM : District to Raise Snack Food Prices
In response to a new state sales tax on snack foods, the Anaheim Union High School District will raise the price that students pay for chips, cookies, sodas and cakes by 5 cents.
Barry Sackin, the district’s food service director, said the added nickel will raise $63,000 for the district, while its expected tax bill from the state will be $57,000.
But Sackin said officials decided to impose the 5-cent increase rather than have cafeteria workers add the 7.75% tax to each item they sell because that would have created longer lunch lines during students’ 30-minute lunch periods.
“We are a nonprofit, break-even program, and when you have a budget of $5 million, $6,000 is not a whole lot of money,” he said.
Cookies and chips will now cost 55 cents, sodas 65 cents and snack cakes 75 cents.
Sackin said the cost of tray lunches will not be affected, even when cookies are served.
“The state says that if an item is part of a meal it is not taxable,” he said.
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