So the mayor admits they understood the business case and it just wasn't high-fructose rhetoric bottled up by PepsiCo.
The bottle tax passed to help balance the city’s budget, but it expires in three years. The mayor’s office says it’s not off the table to extend the tax or to raise it from two cents a can to four cents a can.
"but so what, we passed it anyway! Not only that, but we let drop a threat that it could double and extend indefinitely."
City officials say they had no opportunity to convince Pepsi to stay.
"What happened? How could we possibly have known? It's not our fault." Really? go back to that business meeting.
“I’m just shocked that they’re pulling out and I asked them if there was anything we could do at the city level with Baltimore Development Corporation and try to offer some kind of incentive and they said it was too far down the line,” said City Council President Jack Young.
"I'm shocked!" Well, you could repeal the tax. "Oh no, we can't do that. But how about an incentive?" Like offsetting the tax? "Well, no." Straight out of Atlas Shrugged.
The quoted items, and the rest of the article, make it pretty clear they were moving the plant regardless of the beverage tax. Pepsi is just trying to deflect the bad will they will get from the city residents when they shut down the plant, by blaming the city for it.