The math that Cook County came up with in regard to how much the penny-an-ounce tax will bring in is bogus.
First, the sales of those drinks will not remain the same. There is no way that they can tell how many people will no longer buy those items in Cook County. And the people that go to another county for those drinks will not only buy those items, they will also buy … other things, so that the 9 percent sales tax would be lost to Cook County on all of those items. That is not small change.
What about vending machines? They no doubt are going to raise their prices as much as 25 cents a can. You know that for a fact. The Cook County stores’ sales are going to get smaller, and how many small stores will go under?
Ted Schwartz
Brookfield
