Berkeley Soda Tax Brings In $116K In First Month Alone

BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- Berkeley is celebrating a big haul after just one month of the city's new soda tax.

The tax brought in about $116,000 in the month of March.  The tax is projected to generate about $1.2 million in the first year.

The tax adds a penny-per ounce charge on sugar-sweetened drinks.

READ MORE: Soda Tax

The revenue is intended for public health programs, but the city is still working out exactly how the money will be spent.

Facebook user Michael Bender commented jokingly that the city can use the money to fund the effort to ban red meat.

Facebook user Sylvia Rodriguez Ostrander had an idea for how to use the money, saying "Give it to the public schools duhhhhh."