Local lawmakers push for collection of cigarette tax to raise state revenue
Story Created:
Mar 12, 2010 at 6:13 PM EST
Story Updated:
Mar 12, 2010 at 6:25 PM EST
BARNEVELD, N.Y. (WKTV) - Some local lawmakers have a suggestion on how to raise revenues. They're asking Albany to start collecting cigarette taxes on Indian Reservations and have formed a new coalition to encourage state government to get the job done.
The "Enforce the Law - Collect the Tax Coalition" said the state is losing $1 billion every year in uncollected cigarette taxes.
The coalition said New York State's dismal financial situation is prompting them to ask Albany to enforce the cigarette tax law on Native American land.
The law dates back to 1994, when a Supreme Court ruling allowed states to collect tax on cigarettes sales to non-native American customers. The law has been enacted since 2006, but the coalition says it has rarely, if ever, been enforced.
Right now, the minimum cost for a pack of cigarettes in New York is $5.58. The minimum cost for a carton is $58.50.
Much of the money from cigarette taxes goes to health care programs in the state, and coalition members believes those are funds the state could really use.
"It would be a shame if the state adopted a budget without including this revenue stream," said Jim Calvin, President of the New York Association of Convenience Stores.
The Oneida Indian Nation said the state's previous efforts to impose taxes on sovereign Indian Nation's have not succeeded.
"None of New York's previous efforts to impose taxes upon sovereign Indian nations have ever succeeded, and there's no reason anyone should believe this latest effort will succeed either," said Oneida Indian Nation Spokesperson Mark Emery. "The Oneida Nation has a history of resolving issues with parties who approach the discussions in good faith. When New York is ready to engage with the Oneida Nation on a government-to-government basis in which the parties respect each other's interests, we'll be ready to negotiate a final resolution that is fair and legal."
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