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A file photo shows signs from the campaign to extend Berkeley\u2019s soda tax in 2024. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\/Catchlight<\/p>\nA file photo shows signs from the campaign to extend Berkeley\u2019s soda tax in 2024. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\/Catchlight<\/p>\n
If the last election is any indication, a measure to double Berkeley\u2019s soda tax is likely to be one of the least controversial questions on November\u2019s ballot<\/a>. Two years ago, 80% of Berkeley voters agreed to extend the tax permanently<\/a> after a quiet campaign with no organized opposition.<\/p>\n But Measure AA, which would increase the city\u2019s sugar-sweetened beverage tax, known more commonly as the soda tax, from 1 cent to 2 cents per ounce, has become the most expensive ballot question campaign this year.<\/p>\n All of our coverage<\/a>:\u00a0Meet the candidates running for city council, rent board, school board and more. And learn about local ballot measures and how to vote.<\/p>\n The American Heart Association had contributed $300,318 to the committee formed in support of Measure AA as of Oct. 17, the close of the most recent campaign finance reporting period. The committee has raised another $18,768 in other contributions, for a total of $319,086. That tops the amount raised so far by this year\u2019s second-priciest measure campaign, a proposed parcel tax to fund the arts<\/a>, by more than $50,000. And soda tax proponents raised that money in just four months, compared to more than four times as long for backers of the arts tax.<\/p>\n In a prepared statement provided by spokesperson Nerissa Itchon, the American Heart Association said it was concerned about possible opposition from the soda industry, which spent more than $2.4 million<\/a> trying to block Berkeley\u2019s soda tax in 2014 and invested tens of millions<\/a> since then trying to block similar taxes<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven that history, public health organizations have learned the importance of building strong campaigns early,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n That opposition has not materialized so far \u2014 there are no committees registered against Measure AA.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not base our advocacy efforts on speculation about whether a formal opposition campaign will emerge,\u201d the American Heart Association\u2019s statement read. \u201cRather, we plan based on the well-documented history of industry engagement in sugary drink policy campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n The soda industry outspent tax proponents more than two to one in the initial soda tax campaign, despite large contributions in support, like $85,000 from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg<\/a>. Berkeley\u2019s first-in-the-nation tax nevertheless passed handily<\/a> with 75% of the vote.<\/p>\n Money raised from the tax<\/a> goes to fund nutrition education programs through city churches and nonprofits, a cooking and gardening after-school program through the Berkeley Unified School District, and health and dental screenings through local medical providers. In the first year the tax was in effect there was a 10% drop in soda consumption in Berkeley<\/a>, according to a 2017 study by the Oakland-based Public Health Institute and the University of North Carolina.<\/p>\n Public bank, arts measures raise six figures<\/p>\n The effort to pass Measure Y, which would impose a parcel tax of 7 cents per square foot to build an \u201carts vitality fund,\u201d most of which would go to pay operating expenses for some nonprofit performing arts organizations, ranks as the second most-expensive campaign so far. Fundraising for the measure began in May 2025, over a year before fundraising for the soda tax increase.<\/p>\n A campaign committee supporting the measure had raised $266,239 as of the end of the filing period, with several large contributions from arts organizations. Berkeley Repertory Theatre was the ballot measure\u2019s biggest overall donor, contributing $30,000. The UC Theatre gave $15,000, The Freight contributed $13,000, the Shotgun Players $12,500 and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra $7,500.\u00a0<\/p>\n The largest individual donor, Scott Schenker, chief scientist at the International Computer Science Institute, contributed $25,000. Steve Meckfessel, president of SRM Associates, which manages the tower at 2150 Shattuck Ave. and recently purchased the building that formerly housed Fantasy Studios<\/a>, gave $15,000; performer Colin Epstein contributed $13,000.<\/p>\n No committee has registered in opposition.<\/p>\n