Just last month, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to slap a tax on common grocery store items like soda, juice drinks, sports drinks, tea – even flavored water. This tax was proposed as a solution to the county’s budget deficit, but some commissioners say the county is making a mistake not considering the harm that the tax will cause low-income families, small businesses, jobs and incomes.

One Cook County Commissioner has spelled out the problems in a recent letter to the editor. Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison wrote, “This beverage tax goes too far by hitting our residents too hard in their pocketbooks, especially Chicago residents, and hurts our local businesses.”

“I firmly opposed this heavy-handed tax for multiple reasons. First, the tax purposely singles out a specific private sector industry and is too expansive and creates a revenue stream that goes far beyond the means it is intended to serve,” he continued.

Morrison points out that there are other ways to address a budget deficit beside raising prices on consumers, including the cutting of “redundant and unnecessary spending and political clout jobs.”

“Once again, Cook County government is committing itself to another horrible tax policy which will add more long term damage to our local economy,” says Morrison, whose office has received hundreds of calls from residents who oppose the tax.

To read Commissioner Morrison’s letter to the editor in full, click here. To find out more about how beverage taxes harm families and local businesses, visit The Truth About Beverage Taxes.