Sunday, April 24, 2016

Boulder Channels Bloomberg

Boulder county may well have a ballot issue for the voters this fall to tax sugary soft drinks, presumably to save Boulderites from themselves.Guess what? Consumers will not be expected to pay the tax!

The proposed mechanism to enhance health and fitness funding is an excise tax of 2 cents per ounce on drinks that contain at least 5 grams of sugar, high-fructose corn syrup or other added sweeteners per 12 fluid ounces.
It would be paid by distributors of such drinks, and not by Boulder residents.
Let's see, 2 cents per ounce times 12 oz./can is $.24/can or $2.88/case. For the average Boulderite that would make it economically worthwhile to drive to an adjacent county to do ones shopping even if only one case of pop were on the list. For 2 cases, the same argument would work even if you drove the Lexus instead of the Prius.

If you think the distributors will be paying this tax instead of the end users, I have some ocean front property in Boulder county I can sell you. Cash only at my low, low price. Retail for pop is between $3 and $6 so the tax is running between 48 and 96%. Seems kinda steep.

2 comments:

Merle said...

So then, tell me about this ocean front property you have for sale? :)

Merle

Billll said...

The ocean has receded somewhat in the last few millennia but I am assured by such authorities as Al Gore and Michael Mann that the tide should be coming back in in no time at all.