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Toronto mulls bottled-water tax
Several U.S. cities have adopted similar measure
Kelly Grant And Katie Rook
National Post
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
A Toronto city councillor is proposing a study exploring the merits of taxing bottled water in a move that would add to the city coffers and benefit the environment.
A similar tax was last week adopted by the city of Chicago, but does not appear to have been considered in Canadian jurisdictions aside from Toronto, which this year received increased power to levy new taxes.
The implementation of such a tax would see Torontonians pay an additional five cents for water bottled in Ontario and 10 cents for water bottled outside of the province.
In a letter city council's executive committee will address on Monday, Mayor David Miller expressed his support for councillor Bill Saundercook's request for a study.
"I am prepared to support [the request] in terms of staff reviewing the issue and determining if measures are appropriate and legal ? and would recommend that the committee endorse the councillor's request," Mr. Miller wrote in a letter to executive members dated Nov. 13.
Mr. Saundercook pitched it as a way for the municipal government to rake in more money while encouraging residents to drink Toronto tap water instead of bottled water.
"It's one of my contributions to solving the [financial] problem here at City Hall," Mr. Saundercook said yesterday. "Unless discussion comes out that it's absolutely crazy to do, then I'd like to pursue it."
On Nov. 13, Chicago city council passed a motion that adds an additional five cents to the cost of a bottle of water.
The tax was included in Chicago's 2008 budget.
Municipalities nationwide are responding to concerns about the environment by endorsing bottled-water bans.
The town of the Blue Mountains, near Collingwood, Ont., last month introduced a ban on bottled water in city buildings.
Mayor Ellen Anderson championed the ban, citing environmental benefits.
"It's not a war on the [bottled water] industry, it's a statement of common sense," she said yesterday. "Every little bit of energy we put towards protecting our environment, our waterways, our trees, our grounds will make a difference for the generations to come.
"You have perfectly good drinking water from your tap. It's safe drinking water, it's regulated by the province. When we continue to buy bottled water we take from a natural resource and we contribute to a huge cost in regards to the processing of garbage. Think about the packaging that it comes in."
The town's ban mirrors the requests of city officials in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Salt Lake City, who have asked their employees stop buying bottled water. But critics of the proposal suggest the bottled-water tax would be costly.
City of Toronto Budget Chief Shelley Carroll warned yesterday that the city does not have the power to directly tax manufacturers, leaving the city to force individual store owners to collect the tax. So far, city staff have recommended against that option for taxing liquor and cigarettes, saying the tax would be too expensive and impractical to administer.
"I anticipate that we're going to get roughly the same answer [on bottled water] that we got on the possibility of City of Toronto Act taxes on liquor and cigarettes," Ms. Carroll said.
She said she planned to ask "serious questions" on Monday about whether a study on taxing bottled water was even necessary. "Am I going to get the same statement that I already have about collecting taxes at the point of sale? Because I've got that report. I already have it," she said.
Representatives of the bottled-water industry and convenience stores that would have to collect the tax bristled at the idea of taxing bottled water.
"I think a bottled-water tax would be unfair and hurtful to Torontonians," said Elizabeth Griswold, the executive director of the Canadian Bottled Water Association, which represents approximately 100 companies in the bottled-water business. "Consumers that choose to buy their bottled water outside of the city limits to avoid this tax will also end up buying their groceries and other food items outside of the city."
Toronto mulls bottled-water tax
Several U.S. cities have adopted similar measure
Kelly Grant And Katie Rook
National Post
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
A Toronto city councillor is proposing a study exploring the merits of taxing bottled water in a move that would add to the city coffers and benefit the environment.
A similar tax was last week adopted by the city of Chicago, but does not appear to have been considered in Canadian jurisdictions aside from Toronto, which this year received increased power to levy new taxes.
The implementation of such a tax would see Torontonians pay an additional five cents for water bottled in Ontario and 10 cents for water bottled outside of the province.
In a letter city council's executive committee will address on Monday, Mayor David Miller expressed his support for councillor Bill Saundercook's request for a study.
"I am prepared to support [the request] in terms of staff reviewing the issue and determining if measures are appropriate and legal ? and would recommend that the committee endorse the councillor's request," Mr. Miller wrote in a letter to executive members dated Nov. 13.
Mr. Saundercook pitched it as a way for the municipal government to rake in more money while encouraging residents to drink Toronto tap water instead of bottled water.
"It's one of my contributions to solving the [financial] problem here at City Hall," Mr. Saundercook said yesterday. "Unless discussion comes out that it's absolutely crazy to do, then I'd like to pursue it."
On Nov. 13, Chicago city council passed a motion that adds an additional five cents to the cost of a bottle of water.
The tax was included in Chicago's 2008 budget.
Municipalities nationwide are responding to concerns about the environment by endorsing bottled-water bans.
The town of the Blue Mountains, near Collingwood, Ont., last month introduced a ban on bottled water in city buildings.
Mayor Ellen Anderson championed the ban, citing environmental benefits.
"It's not a war on the [bottled water] industry, it's a statement of common sense," she said yesterday. "Every little bit of energy we put towards protecting our environment, our waterways, our trees, our grounds will make a difference for the generations to come.
"You have perfectly good drinking water from your tap. It's safe drinking water, it's regulated by the province. When we continue to buy bottled water we take from a natural resource and we contribute to a huge cost in regards to the processing of garbage. Think about the packaging that it comes in."
The town's ban mirrors the requests of city officials in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Salt Lake City, who have asked their employees stop buying bottled water. But critics of the proposal suggest the bottled-water tax would be costly.
City of Toronto Budget Chief Shelley Carroll warned yesterday that the city does not have the power to directly tax manufacturers, leaving the city to force individual store owners to collect the tax. So far, city staff have recommended against that option for taxing liquor and cigarettes, saying the tax would be too expensive and impractical to administer.
"I anticipate that we're going to get roughly the same answer [on bottled water] that we got on the possibility of City of Toronto Act taxes on liquor and cigarettes," Ms. Carroll said.
She said she planned to ask "serious questions" on Monday about whether a study on taxing bottled water was even necessary. "Am I going to get the same statement that I already have about collecting taxes at the point of sale? Because I've got that report. I already have it," she said.
Representatives of the bottled-water industry and convenience stores that would have to collect the tax bristled at the idea of taxing bottled water.
"I think a bottled-water tax would be unfair and hurtful to Torontonians," said Elizabeth Griswold, the executive director of the Canadian Bottled Water Association, which represents approximately 100 companies in the bottled-water business. "Consumers that choose to buy their bottled water outside of the city limits to avoid this tax will also end up buying their groceries and other food items outside of the city."
