JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - An ordinance increasing a Juneau excise tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products received preliminary approval from the municipal assembly this week and will be up for a public hearing and final vote Feb. 2.
The measure would increase the excise tax on a pack of cigarettes from $1 to $3, the Juneau Empire (https://bit.ly/14WO2OU ) reported.
The ordinance also would amend the definition of “other tobacco products” to include e-cigarettes. Other tobacco products are currently taxed at 45 percent of their retail cost and no increase is proposed, said finance director Bob Bartholomew.
As an excise tax rather than a sales tax, the measure would not have to go before voters for approval. However, tobacco excise tax increases have been placed before voters three times.
Assembly members in October heard a presentation from a member of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence on tobacco consumption. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes is $9, said NCDD representative Kristin Cox, which includes the $1 local excise tax and a $2 state tax.
Direct medical and indirect productivity costs in Alaska of smoking are $563 million, or $19 a pack, according to NCADD.
A youth survey on risky behavior reviewed by NCADD members indicated that youth smoking decreased 6 percent in Juneau in the two years after the tobacco tax was increased in 2009, from 30 cents to $1 per pack.
The organization also cited a 4.6 percent decline in youth smoking in Anchorage after the municipality in 2011 increased its tobacco tax by 75 cents to $2.21.
The Assembly Finance Committee in November voted to amend the ordinance and have a tax increase considered by the entire assembly. The intent is to reduce consumption of cigarettes and tobacco products, particularly among youth.
Sponsors estimate Juneau would take in $1.7 million in additional revenue from the tax increase.
The ordinance would take effect April 1.
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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, https://www.juneauempire.com
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