Seattle says no to tax on coffee

Voters in coffee-crazy Seattle have thrown out a proposed tax on their favourite drink.

With most of the votes in, nearly seven out of 10 citizens opposed a city council plan for a 7p tax on a cup of espresso to pay for nursery education.

Known as the caffeine capital of the world, Seattle is home of the Starbucks chain and dozens of smaller cafés, some of them no more than wooden shacks at the side of the road.

Café owners had complained that the tax and the red tape involved in administering it would slash their profits and could put some of them out of business. They even staged their own version of the Boston Tea Party, throwing bags of coffee beans into Seattle's Green Lake in an echo of the 1773 protest by American colonists after a tax on tea was imposed by the British government.

Supporters of the measure had claimed the tax would raise millions of dollars to pay for pre-school and day-care programmes at a time when city budgets are being cut back.

They argued that the increase would hardly be noticed since a cup of iced latte or cappuccino already costs more than £2. John Burbank, head of a Left-wing economic thinktank who thought up the tax, said: "The money will provide high-quality pre-kindergarten for kids in poverty who are not getting it now.

"People will be very happy to purchase their tall double latte and know that 10 cents is going to the children of Seattle."

But Jeff Babcock, owner of Zoka Coffee and Roasters, who led the protests, said: "It's not a luxury item as far as the culture here is concerned.

"It's a cold, wet, damp environment. Coffee's big and everyone loves their lattes." He said that most of his customers were the sort of Seattle liberals who dutifully voted for every tax to help schools.

But they were not backing the espresso tax, he added. "They just think it's a crazy tax."

Supporters say the levy would have raised at least $6million a year (£4 million), while a more conservative city council estimate said the figure was more likely to be $3 million.

The tax would have paid for local preschool programmes, grants to help poor families pay for child care, and pay rises for child-care workers with advanced training.