Tobacco tax money less than projected
Jump to full article: The Tennessean, 2008-06-29
Intro: Officials are still assessing the impact of the tripling of Tennessee's cigarette tax as some smokers have begun buying in other states to save money. . . .
Tennessee's cigarette tax increased July 1, 2007, in a move intended to help fund a half-billion dollar plan to improve public schools. Now the tax is higher than that of eight neighboring states.
Three months later, the state also launched a ban on smoking in offices, restaurants and other public places and limited smoking to adult-only businesses, such as bars or smoking lounges.
Tennessee's higher general sales-tax rate and extra 25-cents-per-pack tax over neighboring Georgia has some Chattanooga smokers heading south of the border to buy cigarettes. . . .
Tennessee ranks No. 5 nationally in tobacco use at 24.3 percent, behind Kentucky 28.2 percent, West Virginia 26.9 percent, Oklahoma 25.8 percent and Missouri 24.5 percent, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention records show.
"We call it the 'Tennessee trifecta,"' said Pete Fisher, vice president for state issues at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Jump to full article » |