] About 200 people - coffee roasters, espresso bar owners
] and ordinary caffeine lovers - staged a protest against a
] proposed espresso tax on Sunday.
]
] "I'm here on behalf of my wholesale customers who cannot
] afford this unfair tax," said Neal Brown, wholesale
] director for Zoka Coffee House in the city's Green Lake
] neighborhood.
]
] Initiative 77 would add a 10-cent tax to espresso drinks,
] raising money for preschool and day care programs. The
] measure is up for a vote on Sept. 16 in Seattle.
]
] Supporters say I-77 could raise more than $6.5 million a
] year. A City Council staff estimate puts the benefit at
] between $1.8 million and $3.5 million annually.
]
] "They see the espresso business as some sort of cash cow
] to be milked for this particular issue," Brown said
] Sunday. "The next thing, who knows what? They'll be
] taxing orange juice for another issue."
]
] A coalition of business owners, led by Seattle-based
] coffee retailer Starbucks, is fighting the tax.
]
] Calling the protest their version of the Boston Tea
] Party, demonstrators marched from Zoka to Green Lake,
] where they dumped burlap bags into the water.
]
] They looked like coffee bags, but were filled with
] balloons to keep them from sinking so they could be
] retrieved after the protest, said Susan Majerus, who
] helped organize the demonstration.

Only in Seattle.