] 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. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Espresso lovers protest proposed tax |