Cook County Soda Tax Starts This Week: What It Means For Soft Drink Purchases

More than a month after it was planned to be implemented, Cook County's penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages will go into effect this week. The so-called soda tax was put on hold after area retailers filed a lawsuit last month, claiming the measure was too vague and unlawful. A Cook County judge dismissed the suit Friday, clearing the way for the tax to be implemented starting Wednesday, Aug. 2.

But that doesn't mean opposition to the new tax ordinance has ended. The Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the group that filed the original lawsuit, announced Tuesday evening that it was appealing last week's decision. The group wants to determine if the judge applied the correct standards when he dismissed its lawsuit. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

RELATED: Cook Co. Soda Tax: Retail Group Appeals Judge's Decision To Dismiss Lawsuit

Now that the soda tax is back on the books — for now — what can Cook County consumers expect when they go to pay for their next soft drink? Patch gives a refresher course on the new tax affecting sugary refreshments.

Cook County soda tax basics

Under the measure, every ounce of a sweetened beverage sold in Cook County is subject to a 1-cent tax. County officials estimate this new tax will generate about $200 million annually.

How does the county define "sweetened beverage"?

According to the Cook County, a "sweetened beverage" is a drink that contains sugar or artificial sweetner. That includes carbonated soft drinks, fruit drinks that don't contain 100 percent juice and sports and energy drinks. And it doesn't matter how those beverages are delivered. Bottles, cans and fountain drinks all get taxed.

Maybe the better question is what beverages are exempt from the tax?

The county's list of beverages that won't be taxed includes:

• 100 percent natural fruit or vegetable juice, syrup and/or powder with no added sweeteners
• milk or milk substitutes (such as soy or rice milk)
• unsweetened drinks that have the sweetener added at the point of sale
• infant formula
• medical beverages
• weight reduction or meal replacement beverages
• any syrup or powder that the customer combines with other ingredients to make a beverage

Beverages purchased using food stamps also are exempt from the tax.

Bottom line: How much will a Coke set me back?

It all depends on how big that Coke is. A 2-liter bottle will have an extra 67 cents tacked on, and a six-pack of cans of the soft drink will include an additional 72 cents added to the cost (not counting sales tax).

But what about a 32-ounce fountain drink with ice? Will I get taxed for ounces I'm not getting?

Here's some of the tax's murkiness that retailers complained about in their lawsuit. How a customer is taxed for an ice-filled fountain drink will be up to the business selling the beverage. If they use cups with "ice-fill lines, then they can tax the beverage minus the ice, the tax's guidelines state. For instance, a county spokesman told the Daily Herald that McDonald's has submitted the necessary documentation to do this.

RELATED: Cook County Soda Tax Gets Judge's OK To Go Forward

What happens, though, with business that doesn't use cups with ice-fill lines? Or businesses that let customers add their own ice? Does one party get shafted in those cases? Unfortunately, that's a possibility. Retailers can tax on the size of the cup regardless of how much ice is in it, meaning customers might end up paying 32 cents for less than 32 ounces of "sweetened beverage."

RELATED: Cook County Soda Tax Temporarily Put On Hold By Judge

"How they fill up the cup is an issue between them and their customers," Frank Shuftan, a spokesman for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, the driving force behind the tax, told the Herald.

Are there other "murky" parts of the sales tax?

Coffee drinks were another area retailers highlighted in their lawsuit that they claimed illustrated the tax's inconsistency. For instance, a bottled coffee drink sold in a store would be taxed as a sweetened beverage, but a similar drink made by a coffee shop employee wouldn't.

Why was this tax proposed in the first place?

Check out the county's FAQ about the soda tax, and it will give this reason for why it was implemented:

"The tax was adopted by the Cook County Board of Commissioners to decrease the consumption of sweetened beverages and encourage the adoption of healthy beverage options due to the link between such beverages and obesity, diabetes and other health conditions."

It doesn't take a cynical mind, however, to realize the driving force behind any tax comes down to one thing: money. And while county officials might be concerned with the overall health of residents, they're also concerned — some might argue moreso — with the overall health of the county's coffers.

When Preckwinkle introduced it in October as part of the county's budget for the 2017 fiscal year, the soda tax was projected to generate about $74.6 million. Now that it's hours away from becoming a reality, the county estimates that the tax could create around $200 million in revenue.

RELATED: Penny-Per-Ounce Soda Tax Purgatory Spurs 300 Cook County Layoffs

In order to gather support for the tax, Preckwinkle also pledged not to raise county taxes for at least the next two fiscal years if Cook County Board members approved the tax.

What about the county workers who were laid off because the tax was delayed?

About 300 Cook County workers were laid off after a judge issued a temporary injuction that stopped the soda tax from going into effect Aug. 1. If the measure had been delayed longer — or shot down completely — county officials claim around 1,100 employees would have been out of work.

Now that soda tax will be generating revenue for the county, the number of workers needed to be laid off could decrease, according to CBS 2 Chicago.

UPDATED (7:01 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1)

Photo by Jeff Chiu | Associated Press

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