To craft a winning ballot initiative, the proponents of San Francisco鈥檚 2016 soda tax measure made a key tweak to previous efforts: Instead of earmarking the proceeds for the specific purpose of improving public health, which would require two-thirds of the vote to pass, they wrote it as a general tax, which only needed 50 percent plus one vote. The catch, of course, was how to direct the revenue to the cause of better public health outcomes without a budget dedication.
San Francisco began collecting the tax in January 2018. Following the model set by Berkeley, the law directed the tax revenue to the city鈥檚 general fund and established a special advisory committee to provide recommendations for how to spend it. The tracks the impact of the tax and ensures that the revenue from the tax is used to further improve public health.
As the revenue came in, the question became: How would it be spent? The San Francisco Controller鈥檚 Office expected soda tax revenue of $15 million. Within that, $3.4 million was dedicated through mandatory set-aside budget rules, $1.2 million was allocated by