Jump to full article: Business Wire, 2002-02-13
Intro: Philip Morris U.S.A. voiced its strong opposition to Mayor Bloomberg's proposal to increase consumer taxes on cigarettes by more than 1700 percent.
The Company said the tax increase could hurt New York City by driving shoppers and retail jobs outside city borders.
A tax is a tax
The Mayor has promised not to raise taxes, stating "I can pledge that we will not raise taxes. I think it's exactly the wrong signal to send in a period when you're trying to encourage economic activity. If you want to destroy this city, raise taxes and people will leave, jobs will leave and your total revenue will go down."
"The same logic that the mayor has used to hold all other taxes steady applies to the proposed cigarette tax increase and its impact on shoppers and retail jobs," said Michael Pfeil, Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs, Philip Morris U.S.A. "Increasing taxes on cigarettes will drive adult smokers and retail jobs to lower tax areas."
"The result of this dramatic tax increase will be to encourage commuters to purchase their cigarettes closer to home, to drive New York City residents to cross city lines, turn to the internet and Native American reservations to find lower cost alternatives to these outrageous tax rates," said Pfeil. "Among the hardest hit will be New York City store owners who will lose sales and may be forced to layoff their employees or relocate their businesses to more consumer friendly locations outside of the city." . .
Philip Morris U.S.A. shares the Mayor's desire to reduce youth smoking and is committed to playing an active role in helping to make progress on this issue. The company believes that there are a number of ways to reduce the incidence of youth smoking without creating unintended adverse financial consequences for adult smokers and small business owners. The company has been actively encouraging state and local elected officials to consider spending a significant portion of tobacco settlement funds on programs that can reduce and prevent youth smoking. New York State has budgeted millions of dollars to fund anti-smoking efforts while the city has recently cut its funding for such programs.
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