Cook County, the most populous county in Illinois, will begin collecting a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages beginning on Wednesday, making it the largest jurisdiction with a soda tax, following a state court decision that the tax is constitutional, said the Chicago Tribune. Some 5.24 million people, including all the residents of Chicago, the third-largest U.S. city, live in Cook County.
The Cook County Board approved the tax last fall as a way to plug a budgetary gap and avert layoffs of county workers. The tax was scheduled take effect July 1, but implementation was delayed when retailers challenged the validity of the levy. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Kubasiak determined the county had the authority to impose the tax and lifted the temporary restraining order against it, said the Tribune. Retailers said the tax would result in unequal taxation of similar products — drinks sold in a container or from a fountain machine are taxed but custom-made sweetened beverages, such as a fancy coffee drinks, are exempt.
Cook County has 41 percent of Illinois’ 12.8 million residents. Berkeley, Calif., was the first city in the country to approve a soda tax, in 2014. Since then, taxes have been approved by voters or elected boards in Philadelphia; San Francisco, Oakland and Albany, Calif.; Boulder, Colo.; and Seattle. In early May, voters in Sante Fe, NM, defeated a 2-cent soda tax, a boost for the soft drink industry.