Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley might have PET suppliers and blow molders a bit scared today, with his proposal to slap a 10 cent-per-bottle tax on bottled water.
This story from CBS2Chicago.com explains that the bottled water tax is part of a package of new tax proposals designed to help the city balance its budget.
The TV report found one viewer who said a new tax would make a difference:
Lauren Hurley has already done the math. She estimates the bottled water tax and an increase in property taxes will cost her an extra $100 or $150 a month. "I'll try to drink more tap water, try to cut down on a lot of other things. What I can do is what all I can do," she said.
Earlier this summer, some cities made some anti-bottled water statements, but those were tame by comparison -- pledges to cut back on or stop all municipal purchases of bottled water. Will taxes cut bottled water consumption, and make all the PET suppliers with big expansion plans start to second-guess their proposals?
Comments (1)
If this comes to pass, and this tax on bottled water comes to fruition, I believe people everywhere need to look at litigation against their local municipalities who are, by law, to provide us with safe drinking water. If tap wster were safe to drink and our tax dollars were being properly implemented to that effect, there'd be no need or desire for bottled water - we lived eithout it for hundreds of years prior. You could simply carry your own bottle around with tap water and fill it wherever you are. Since that is not the case, the local municipalities should consider themselves lucky that someone hasn't brought suit requiring them to provide bottled water to at their own expense to each of us!
Posted by jo | October 12, 2007 7:51 AM
Posted on October 12, 2007 07:51