PHILADELPHIA _ The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Wednesday denied a request that it immediately take up a legal challenge to the city's new tax on sweetened beverages.
The decision means that Common Pleas Court will have to rule on the case first before it can be appealed to the Supreme Court.
The tax, which is to go into effect Jan. 1, will add 1.5 cents per ounce to the cost of most sugary and diet beverages. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney plans to use the revenue to expand early-childhood education opportunities and pay for a number of other initiatives.
A group of residents, businesses and organizations, including the American Beverage Association, has challenged the tax as unconstitutional. Expecting the case ultimately to wind up before the state Supreme Court, the lawyers representing the plaintiffs asked the court to hear it immediately. That it decided not to is "neither good nor bad," said Shanin Specter, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.
"We're happy Judge Glazer will rule by the end of the year," Specter said, referring to Common Pleas Court Gary S. Glazer, who now has the case.
Glazer has told attorneys in the case he planned to have a resolution by Jan. 1.
The city has until Nov. 14 to file a response to the latest filing from the plaintiffs. After that, Glazer could decide on his own or set up arguments.
"If the city loses, the city can't enforce the tax," Specter said. "If we lose, the tax will be collected pending the appeal."
The tax, applied at the distributor level, is expected to generate about $92 million a year.
Attorneys for the city did not immediately respond to request for comment on the state Supreme Courts' decision.
