Schaaf accused of ‘bait and switch’ on Oakland soda tax money

Collection of Oakland’s penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages begins July 1. Collection of Oakland’s penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages begins July 1. Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Schaaf accused of ‘bait and switch’ on Oakland soda tax money 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Three Oakland City Council members who sponsored a voter-approved measure imposing a city soda tax accused Mayor Libby Schaaf on Friday of seeking to funnel its revenue into the general budget to help eliminate a deficit, rather than spending it on health programs as backers promised during the campaign.

Measure HH, which passed with 61 percent support in November, is a penny-per-ounce tax on the distribution of sugar-sweetened beverages. It is projected to generate up to $8 million in revenue annually.

Because it was designed as a general tax, the measure needed only a simple majority to pass. Had it been written as a tax for specific purposes — such as raising money for health programs — it would have needed two-thirds approval.

Collection of the tax begins July 1, and a community advisory board will be formed to make recommendations on how the revenue is spent. The Yes on HH campaign pledged to spend the money on health programs, nutrition education and city parks.

However, Schaaaf is proposing to divert all of the money to fill a $32.5 million budget hole, according to City Council members who have been briefed on her two-year spending proposal.

But the mayor’s budget proposal, released late Friday, did not break down how the revenue would be spent, saying that responsibility fell to the advisory board. The plan appears to set aside more than $3.5 million for “several new investments that are consistent with the goals of the measure,” plus $1 million for the yet-to-be-formed advisory committee.

After their briefings, City Council members Rebecca Kaplan, Desley Brooks and Annie Campbell Washington, the measure’s authors, said Schaaf’s plan for spending the soda tax money amounted to a “bait and switch.”

“To turn around and say we’re not going to do what we said we would is appalling,” Brooks said. “To fill the budget gap now is so shortsighted.”

Kaplan added in a statement, “We must keep our promises — and allocate these monies to the intended purposes.”

Campbell Washington, a close ally of Schaaf, wrote Thursday on her Facebook page that “it’s time to fight” and that she was “deeply offended” by the mayor’s plan.

City Councilman Dan Kalb said it wasn’t clear how the soda tax revenue would be allocated, but that using some of it to alleviate the expected deficit would be prudent.

“When I voted for it, I knew it wasn’t an earmarked tax and I think other voters knew that as well,” Kalb said. “I think it’s fine to spend the equivalent of some of the money on health programs, but I don’t think the entirety needs to be.”

City officials plan to hold town halls and budget hearings to make changes to the proposal between now and June 30, the deadline for the City Council to approve a final version.

Abdul Taleb, owner of Mi Carnal Market in Oakland’s Foothill neighborhood, who opposed the tax, said Friday that he “knew from the beginning that stuff like this would happen.”

“There were so many other ways to make people healthier than raise taxes,” Taleb said. “It’s money coming out from low-income communities and going straight to the city. It didn’t make any sense.”

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov