Comments

1

We need to bring Slats back for border security.

5

@3 My theory is that some of the "extra" revenue is coming from kombucha sales, since many kombucha varieties are covered by the tax and kombucha consumption has been going up for years. It would be interesting to see data on what specific products are generating the most revenue. Thoughts?

7

@5 Just doing the rough calculations, if an unexpected increase in kombucha consumption was behind the additional revenue, that would work out to nearly 24 million 12 ounce bottles. So, yeah, if every single person in the greater Puget Sound region purchased--in Seattle--4 more bottles of kombucha than they would have in prior years, you might be correct.

My theory is that the city sucks at forecasting the effects of tax proposals.

8

@7 I did say "some of"...

I think they just sucked at estimating Seattle's existing thirst for sugar-sweetened beverages + maybe underestimated the rise of kombucha and other "healthy" sugar-sweetened beverages.

9

@1 Hahahaha! I see what you did there. Well played.

11

There is nothing incongruous about the second amendment and ā€˜Never Surrenderā€™ - hence the WTF is impertinent.

12

The good ole NRA must have gotten to 'king' 5:

NEVER SURRENDER
+ your semi-atomatic Pistol
= wtf?

What's king 5 asking for? Standoffs? More Pride?
What the fuck are they smoking* over there?
Have they, too, been infested by Sinclair Broadcasting Corps?

*they're doing it Wrong

13

@12 -- 'atomatic' -- not pocket nukes, but close!

14

"Global Kombucha Market 2018-2023:
The Kombucha Market size will grow from USD 0.97 Billion in 2017 to USD 3.81 Billion by 2023, at an estimated CAGR of 25.6%. The base year considered for the study is 2017, and the market size is projected from 2018 to 2023."
https://www.reuters.com/brandfeatures/venture-capital/article?id=40693

That's for all of the US, but Seattle is in the top 5 for kombucha sales in 2017, according to:
https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2018/02/13/Fermentation-on-fire-US-retail-sales-of-kombucha-and-other-fermented-beverages-surged-37.4-in-2017

15

@5:

I believe the tax also encompasses sports and energy drinks, so maybe the increase over the estimate could also be attributed, in part, to people needing more sugary pick-me-ups to get through our long, dark late fall and winter?

16

If they wanna make carbonated suger water (soda, pop!) Bad (sinful), they need to tax it, just like they do pot (very sinful!) @ nearly 50%, and booze (good luck): circa 35%. If they cannot afford to poison themselves with too much carbonated sugar (White Death) water, is that bad thing? Not to me.

17

@15 I think the numbers are only through the first three quarters of the year, but it will be interesting to see how Q4 compares. So far Q3 had the highest revenue and Q1 the lowest, so I'm wondering if compliance has improved over time and had some impact on the total revenue each quarter. There's still too many unanswered questions to debate the impact of the tax.

18

@3 and @6 - could not agree more. I think the one good thing that can come out of this is that maybe some starry-eyed, nanny-state idealist will see the light when it comes to the government claiming they need more money for.....

19

To reduce obesity public transit fares should be based on % of body fat.

20

@ Transit by the pound? How would that work?

"Welcome aboard please step on scale your weight will be announced and fare calculated."

I can't imagine people will have any problem with that system.

21

@19

Lindy West could single handedly fund the city budget under such a system. Brilliant.

22

I vote for Lynwood being the next Canton, OH

23

@21 I believe that all topics are fair game in comedy. The challenge is when something very edgy is taken on (the Holocaust, rape, fat jokes), the comedy has to be like, really, really good to avoid knocking the wind out of your audience with a dull, soul-sucking thud.

@19 sounds like a recipe for shifting public transit users into private cars, thus exacerbating the traffic problem. Externalities people!

@mbell i enjoyed bud-wise. Thank you for your pun.


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