PROOF - Customer Service is DEAD Retailers took OUT Water Fountains when they started selling Bottled Water.
Chicago is going to Tax Bottled Water. Chicago Tribune December 27, 2007
We refill Old Bottles with Filtered Water.
Is there a tax on those Bags of Potting soil?
When they started selling Bottled water at Thomas and Mack they took OUT the drinking fountains.
Casino's should REFILL your water bottle.
Should Tax money be used to buy Bottle Water?
Chicago is set to impose a 5-cent tax on bottled water on Jan. 1, becoming the first major U.S. city to demand such a surcharge. The move -- which officials predict will secure an extra $10.5 million annually -- will help the city plug a budget hole by building on the growing disdain for environmentally suspect bottles.
Black Market starting
WHO will be the "Al Capone" of Bottled Water.
"Just like people go to Indiana to buy cheaper cigarettes and gas, people are going to be going outside Chicago to buy bottled water," said David Vite, president of the
Illinois Retail Merchants Association.
"Why should I have to pay more for water just because I live in the city?" she asked. "It's not fair and I'm not going to do it."
"If I'm outside the city, I'll make a stop for bottled water," she said. "There's no question about it. I'll probably buy two or three cases at a time from Costco."
"The tax will discourage people from drinking water," she said. "It's outrageous."
In an effort to promote city tap water --
which consistently earns high marks for its taste and cleanliness --
city officials acknowledge they want to curb the bottled variety's use.
Illinois residents consumed 270 million gallons of bottled water in 2005,
making it the seventh-biggest bottled water consumer in the United States, according to New York-based Beverage Marketing.
Consumers can avoid the tax by purchasing enhanced or sparkling water such as Perrier, Water Joe, Smart Water or Vitamin Water. The additives, supplements or carbonation in those beverages differentiate themselves enough from kitchen sink variety to evade the surcharge, according to the new law.
"It has to be like tap water [to be subjected to the tax] because that's the alliterative you have to plain bottled water," said Ed Walsh, spokesman for the city's Revenue Department. "You can't go to the tap and get flavored water or enhanced water."
Once touted as the gateway to a
healthier lifestyle, bottled water has quickly transformed into a symbol of American wastefulness.
What is "Healthy"? about drinking "Bottled" Water.
U.S. sales of bottled water topped 11.9 billion in 2006, a 10 percent increase over the previous year.
Americans drink more bottled water than any other beverage with the exception of carbonated soft drinks, according to the International Bottled Water Association. To meet the demand, the Earth Policy Institute estimates manufacturers use more than 17 million barrels of oil -- enough fuel to run 1 million U.S. cars for a full year -- in making polyethylene terephthalate plastic bottles.
Only 23 percent of those bottles, however, are recycled
DO YOU RECYCLE? IF NOT, YOU SHOULD.
As bottled water consumption nearly doubled over the past five years,
An innocent sip of water soon has become an assault on the environment so severe, it seemingly rivals running over Al Gore with a Humvee.
Banning "Bottled water is an easy way to get people involved in protecting the environment," said local activist a resident who has worked to get bottled water - SALES - banned from social functions at her church.
"Not everyone can buy a Prius or hybrid car. But everyone can stop drinking bottled water."
Earlier this month, the city sent letters to more than 12,426 retailers and wholesalers reminding them about the pending tax. Though most businesses will pay the surcharge through their distributors, they're still responsible for filing paperwork on any inventory purchased before Jan. 1. Critics contend the requirement will be a bureaucratic nightmare for store owners.
*** BS from the Illinois Beverage Association. If there is ONE thing the Gov't is MOST EFFICIENT AT IS COLLECTING TAXES.
Whenever anyone knocks the Govt because or "inefficiency" I ask - DO THEY COLLECT TAXES FROM YOU?
"It's going to be very difficult for the city to enforce," - executive director of the Illinois Beverage Association. Just as the cigarette tax developed a black market on Marlboro, Vite says it's possible bottled water will follow the same path. Vendors will feel an enormous pressure to remain competitive, he says, especially given the cheaper option right outside the city limits.
"A black market will definitely develop," he said. "The tax will make Chicago an island, not just in Illinois, but in the entire nation."
