Jump to full article: Chambersburg (PA) Public Opinion, 2009-10-22
Author: ROSCOE BARNES III Staff writer
Intro: The struggling state coffers will burden smokers to get more revenue.
Little cigars -- the ones that come with filters in sweet flavors and look like cigarettes -- will more than double in price because of the state budget crisis.
Beginning Nov. 1, the cigars will cost an additional $1.60 per pack. The price will jump from 99 cents a pack to $2.59. At the same time, the price of cigarettes will go up an additional 25 cents.
"They need to start picking on the drinkers for a change, and not just the smokers," said Melody Hopkins, manager of Puff N Snuff, Chambersburg. "There's not a lot of people who would die because you light up on the road, but a lot of people die when you drink and drive."
The state tax on small cigars was only recently passed. It equals about 8 cents per stick.
"There were some proposals that involved all cigars and smokeless tobacco, but the one that passed was for small cigars," said Wendy Lewis, budget analysis for the Democratic House Committee on Appropriations in Harrisburg.
Currently there is no tax on small cigars.
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