Quick Take
The City of Santa Cruz’s Measure Z might seem like a good idea, writes Sarah Henne, a former public-school teacher and Santa Cruz resident who now works as a field representative for the California Federation of Teachers. But if you dig deeper, it’s an unfair tax that would burden low-income families and have no significant impact on community health. She urges the public to vote no.
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At first glance, the Measure Z beverage tax might seem like a good idea – a silver bullet aimed at decreasing consumption of sweetened beverages while paying for community programs and services. The glaring problem: It won’t accomplish either.
Measure Z, conceived by local politicians intent on disregarding state law, is a glossed-over attempt to impose an unfair tax burden on working families already struggling to make ends meet. I see through this illegal move, as do the hundreds of residents in the city of Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz politicians believe they can disregard the state’s Keep Groceries Affordable Act – a measure passed by an overwhelming majority of Democratic legislators and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 to protect working families from local taxes on beverages and groceries. The city council wants to circumvent that law by imposing a tax on Santa Cruz residents that will raise prices as much as 90% on popular soft drinks.
But that new tax revenue would go toward – in the measure’s own language – general governmental use. That means it would go into the city’s general fund. Simply put, any tax dollars gained through Measure Z would be used to pad the city’s balance sheet, without accountability or transparency. We have had enough new revenue being raised on the backs of city residents and families across Santa Cruz who are already facing inflation and the sky-high cost of living.
Beyond the immediate cost burden on lower-income Santa Cruz residents, the city itself is taking a significant financial risk. In its short-sighted effort to increase tax revenue, it is setting itself up for protracted, costly legal battles that will inevitably arise as a result of ignoring state law.
Even the mayor of Santa Cruz warned that Measure Z will cost the city “huge amounts of money to defend.” Since the implementation of the 2018 law, no other California city has tried to pass this type of tax for that reason.
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We have pressing concerns in Santa Cruz – homelessness, housing affordability and an ever-increasing cost of living that we should be focused on addressing. The city already passed an increase in the sales tax in March to address some urgent needs. Now is not the time to introduce another substantial tax measure that hits those who cannot afford it instead of focusing on those challenges we all agree must be met.
I have always stood with local leaders on improving public health. A regressive tax of this nature has never been shown to significantly improve health outcomes, but it has certainly been shown to cost our taxpayers.
I have seen the studies that show that in the handful of Northern California cities that have adopted a beverage tax, there was no evidence of a significant decrease in beverage sales across any income category, and lower-income families were “bearing the burden of the tax” without improving their health outcomes.
Workers in Santa Cruz – those across the hospitality, transportation, food service and many other industries – are still recovering from losses that began during the pandemic and persist as a result of inflation. If Measure Z is approved, we know prices will increase.
Our national leaders are proposing solutions to reduce grocery prices, so why is Santa Cruz moving in the opposite direction?
It is not often that I speak out, but when it comes to the financial well-being of our residents, we must raise our voices. That is why I am voting no on Measure Z. I encourage our leaders and residents across this community to do the same.
Sarah Henne has lived and worked in Santa Cruz since 1996. She is a UC Santa Cruz graduate who spent 18 years as a local public school teacher, and is currently a field representative for the California Federation of Teachers. In her spare time, she frequents local parks with her 9-year old daughter, who is a student in the Santa Cruz City Schools district.