The city’s chief financial officer confirmed the news as city officials begin preparing for budget season.

Boulder follows in the footsteps of Philadelphia, which has also been forced to lower its revenue projections from its beverage tax as tax collections have declined due, in part, to people shopping across the border. Just recently, an independent market research firm found that beverage sales inside the city of Philadelphia dropped dramatically since the beverage tax went into effect and in turn, sales have spiked at stores outside the city border. This cross-border shopping can have big impacts on mom-and-pop businesses and their employees.

Beverage taxes have real consequences and fail to live up to their promises. There are better ways for cities to fund programs that don’t hurt businesses, their employees or hardworking families.