On: My parents collect cans for a living

[azundo]

Presumably the owners and operators of the grocery stores are losing, and are constituents of the city, pay payroll taxes, property taxes, etc.

[relaxing → azundo]

You don’t have to presume - the aspects you bring up are well studied. There was no negative effect on employment. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33232891/

In fact, a Rutgers study found a net positive effect due to the tax spend on early childhood education. https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Beverage-Tax202...

Not sure what you think happened with property taxes, but there was no rash of store closings. Due to consumers periodically bulk buying soda at a different chain outlet or otherwise.