Consider this if an altruistic tyrannical city government was all so very concerned about health effects of consuming sugary drinks then why don’t they ban them instead of taxing them? That’s right it’s all about the extraction of $$$$ packaged under the guise of leftist concern for the dignity of others BS.
More likely it's a middle ground short of outright banning a substance that has been part of most human's diets for a few centuries now. Not sure this is entirely a leftist plan as such taxes have been assessed on alcohol and tobacco in most every state in the union for decades.
Sugar might simply join alcohol and tobacco in the harmful, but permitted and taxed category.