CHICAGO _ A judge on Tuesday extended the temporary hold on implementing Cook County's penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages until at least July 21.
That's when Circuit Judge Daniel Kubasiak will hold a postponed hearing in a lawsuit brought by the Illinois Retail Merchants Association seeking to block the tax.
The temporary restraining order was set to run through Wednesday, but a scheduled hearing was pushed back in the wake of a motion by the Cook County Department of Revenue to dismiss the lawsuit.
"We believe it's the county's attempt to both try to bleed us and buy more time to try their PR campaign that the sky is falling," Rob Karr, merchants association president, said Tuesday.
County spokesman Frank Shuftan wrote in an email Tuesday that the extension was by "mutual agreement" with the association.
The temporary restraining order, issued June 30, was upheld Monday by an Illinois appellate court.
The tax on soda and other sweetened beverages was supposed to go into effect July 1.
Cook County had projected about $67.5 million in revenue from the tax this year and more than $200 million for fiscal year 2018.
On Monday, the county warned it would have to reduce its budget by 10 percent _ including personnel cuts _ if the sweetened beverage tax was not in place by August.
