RBP
03-16-2016, 11:23 PM
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-chicago-city-council-tobacco-tax-smoking-age-met-0317-20160317-story.html
Import work being done in Chicago. Do you think they understand that the small cigar sales are not because people like small cigars?
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People buying certain tobacco products or paying for a cab ride with a credit card in Chicago will have to dig a bit deeper after the City Council on Wednesday voted to increase taxes and fees.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel also persuaded the council to raise the legal age to buy cigarettes or other tobacco products in the city to 21 by tweaking the proposal on higher taxes on chewing tobacco, cigars and loose tobacco.
The ordinance still drew 10 no votes, several from aldermen whose wards are close to the suburbs or Indiana who have complained their convenience stores and gas stations will be driven out of business when people leave the city to make purchases.
But the mayor got 35 aldermen to back the plan, and called its passage a victory in the fight against youth smoking. The final version made changes to the tax increases after a handful of aldermen used a parliamentary procedure to block a vote on the legislation last month.
The main change is an increase in the tax on small cigars to 20 cents per cigar from the 15 cents per cigar originally proposed by Emanuel. At the same time, the per-ounce tax increase on roll-your-own tobacco was decreased from $6.60 in the original version to $1.80 in the one that passed.
ecause small cigars, typically sold in 20-packs that will see a $4 increase to $9.79 under the ordinance, are much more popular than rolling tobacco, the Emanuel administration estimates the ordinance passed Wednesday will raise about $6 million annually, the same amount as predicted under the earlier version.
The ordinance still could face a legal challenge, as state law does not give municipalities the right to enact their own taxes on chewing tobacco and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association has argued Emanuel's move is illegal.
The City Council also voted to hit taxi passengers who pay their fares using credit cards with a 50-cent fee to help defray the costs the card companies charge cab companies for processing the transactions. The new charge comes on top of the 15 percent taxi fare increase Emanuel included in his 2016 budget.
The move comes amid an ongoing fight over regulations governing the taxi and ride-sharing industries. With a large group of people in the council gallery wearing T-shirts advertising ride-share giant Uber, Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, followed through on a pledge to introduce a plan Wednesday to require ride-share drivers to earn chauffeurs licenses like cabbies and pay any outstanding debt to the city before they are allowed to drive.
Cabbies have been arguing for years that the city is driving them out of business by allowing ride-share drivers to avoid many of the rules and regulations faced by the taxi industry. The chauffeurs license is a time-consuming, costly hoop to jump through that would presumably deter many would-be ride-share drivers.
But speaking to reporters after the meeting, Emanuel took a dim view of Beale's plan. "My view, it's not about the industry," he said. "My view is, what are the commuters and consumers looking for? And they're looking for choice."
Beale said he believes he has enough council support to pass his ordinance over Emanuel's objection, but aldermanic backing often evaporates when the mayor's office starts making its displeasure known.
Ald. Ed Burke's ban on chewing tobacco at baseball games and other professional and amateur sporting events also was approved Wednesday. No word on how exactly that will be enforced if pro ballplayers flout the law at Wrigley Field or U.S. Cellular Field.
Also approved Wednesday was a measure to exempt tampons and sanitary pads from Chicago's portion of the sales tax. Supporters said it was a way to help correct what they said is an unfairness to women who need to buy the products. The items are currently taxed at 10.25 percent like many other products bought in Chicago. The city's share of the sales tax is 1.25 percent, and that's the portion that will be removed.
Import work being done in Chicago. Do you think they understand that the small cigar sales are not because people like small cigars?
=============================================
People buying certain tobacco products or paying for a cab ride with a credit card in Chicago will have to dig a bit deeper after the City Council on Wednesday voted to increase taxes and fees.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel also persuaded the council to raise the legal age to buy cigarettes or other tobacco products in the city to 21 by tweaking the proposal on higher taxes on chewing tobacco, cigars and loose tobacco.
The ordinance still drew 10 no votes, several from aldermen whose wards are close to the suburbs or Indiana who have complained their convenience stores and gas stations will be driven out of business when people leave the city to make purchases.
But the mayor got 35 aldermen to back the plan, and called its passage a victory in the fight against youth smoking. The final version made changes to the tax increases after a handful of aldermen used a parliamentary procedure to block a vote on the legislation last month.
The main change is an increase in the tax on small cigars to 20 cents per cigar from the 15 cents per cigar originally proposed by Emanuel. At the same time, the per-ounce tax increase on roll-your-own tobacco was decreased from $6.60 in the original version to $1.80 in the one that passed.
ecause small cigars, typically sold in 20-packs that will see a $4 increase to $9.79 under the ordinance, are much more popular than rolling tobacco, the Emanuel administration estimates the ordinance passed Wednesday will raise about $6 million annually, the same amount as predicted under the earlier version.
The ordinance still could face a legal challenge, as state law does not give municipalities the right to enact their own taxes on chewing tobacco and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association has argued Emanuel's move is illegal.
The City Council also voted to hit taxi passengers who pay their fares using credit cards with a 50-cent fee to help defray the costs the card companies charge cab companies for processing the transactions. The new charge comes on top of the 15 percent taxi fare increase Emanuel included in his 2016 budget.
The move comes amid an ongoing fight over regulations governing the taxi and ride-sharing industries. With a large group of people in the council gallery wearing T-shirts advertising ride-share giant Uber, Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, followed through on a pledge to introduce a plan Wednesday to require ride-share drivers to earn chauffeurs licenses like cabbies and pay any outstanding debt to the city before they are allowed to drive.
Cabbies have been arguing for years that the city is driving them out of business by allowing ride-share drivers to avoid many of the rules and regulations faced by the taxi industry. The chauffeurs license is a time-consuming, costly hoop to jump through that would presumably deter many would-be ride-share drivers.
But speaking to reporters after the meeting, Emanuel took a dim view of Beale's plan. "My view, it's not about the industry," he said. "My view is, what are the commuters and consumers looking for? And they're looking for choice."
Beale said he believes he has enough council support to pass his ordinance over Emanuel's objection, but aldermanic backing often evaporates when the mayor's office starts making its displeasure known.
Ald. Ed Burke's ban on chewing tobacco at baseball games and other professional and amateur sporting events also was approved Wednesday. No word on how exactly that will be enforced if pro ballplayers flout the law at Wrigley Field or U.S. Cellular Field.
Also approved Wednesday was a measure to exempt tampons and sanitary pads from Chicago's portion of the sales tax. Supporters said it was a way to help correct what they said is an unfairness to women who need to buy the products. The items are currently taxed at 10.25 percent like many other products bought in Chicago. The city's share of the sales tax is 1.25 percent, and that's the portion that will be removed.