posed ▁on ▁artificial ly ▁swe eten ed ▁be ver ages , ▁such ▁as ▁di et ▁s oda . ▁The ▁law ▁became ▁effective ▁on ▁ 1 ▁January ▁ 2 0 1 7 . ▁It ▁was ▁reported ▁after ▁two ▁months ▁of ▁the ▁tax ▁that ▁Philadelphia ▁super mark ets ▁and ▁be verage ▁distrib utors ▁are ▁planning ▁lay offs ▁because ▁sug ary ▁be verage ▁sales ▁are ▁down ▁between ▁ 3 0 ▁and ▁ 5 0 ▁percent . ▁ ▁After ▁the ▁tax ▁took ▁effect , ▁Ken ney ▁said ▁ret ail ers ' ▁price ▁g oug ing ▁bl amed ▁on ▁the ▁tax ▁and ▁charg ing ▁the ▁tax ▁on ▁items ▁not ▁subject ▁to ▁it ▁was ▁" wr ong " ▁and ▁" mis leading ". ▁In ▁February ▁ 2 0 1 7 , ▁s oda ▁manufact ur ers ▁and ▁ret ail ers ▁announced ▁sales ▁decl ines ▁of ▁ 3 0 - 5 0 % ▁in ▁Philadelphia ▁and ▁announced ▁job ▁cut s ▁and ▁lay offs . ▁Ken ny ▁character ized ▁the ▁lay offs ▁as ▁evidence ▁of ▁gre ed ▁among ▁manufact ur ers . ▁In ▁the ▁first ▁four ▁months ▁of ▁the ▁s oda ▁tax ▁$ 2 5 . 6 ▁million ▁was ▁collected , ▁which ▁is ▁lower ▁than ▁predicted . ▁The ▁re venue ▁is ▁intended ▁to ▁pay ▁for ▁a ▁pre - K ▁program ▁( 4 9 % ▁of ▁tax ▁re venue ), ▁government ▁employee ▁benefits ▁and ▁city ▁programs ▁( 2 0 % ), ▁and ▁re building ▁city ▁par ks ▁and ▁recre ation ▁cent ers . ▁A ▁recent ▁study ▁from ▁ 2 0 1 7