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Speaker urges Palo Alto to consider sugar-sweetened beverage tax to fund public health and services
Summary
A resident urged the Policy and Services Committee to place a 2 cents-per-ounce tax on wholesale sugar-sweetened beverage distribution (citing Measure Z examples) to fund parks, youth and senior programs, public safety and health initiatives, noting other California cities have adopted similar measures.
During the public comment period before the committee's agenda, a Palo Alto resident proposed the city consider a ballot measure to levy a 2-cent-per-ounce tax on the wholesale distribution of sugar-sweetened beverages to fund general governmental uses including parks, youth and senior programming, mental health services, public safety and active-transportation projects.
The speaker described the proposed measure's text and effects: a 2-cent-per-ounce wholesale tax on soda, energy drinks and similar products, estimated by the speaker to generate $1,500,000 annually until ended by voters. The speaker said similar measures (Measure Z) had passed in several cities and cited Santa Cruz as a recent example; other jurisdictions mentioned included Berkeley, Albany, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Boulder and Philadelphia. The commenter also noted an executive order by the governor proposing a related statewide measure and said Palo Alto, as a charter city, could adopt its own tax without waiting for state action.
The comment was a request for the committee to "bring this forward" for council consideration; staff did not present a substantive response during the meeting. The suggestion was recorded as public comment and no formal council action was taken on the topic that night.
