New Hike on Tobacco Taxes in New York City

NYC $11 cigarettes per pack is bad news for smokers. Some brands of cigarettes like Marlboro in NYC will cost $11 per pack and that is prompting many smokers to think twice about dropping the habit. As of July 1, NYC cigarettes will average $9 a pack for both major brands and generic.

Kevin S. Parker of Brooklyn and all the other 31 Democrats in the State Senate voted to increase the tax by $1.60 a pack. The new law, part of an emergency budget measure to keep the government running, will add another $1.60 in state taxes to every cigarette pack sold starting on July 1. This measure will push the average price of a pack to about $9 per pack.

Smokers in New York City are already paying the highest cigarette taxes in the nation. Now a new state law will push those taxes even higher this summer. Those who prefer nonsmoking tobacco products will also be forced to pay significantly more.

The tax on smokeless tobacco will more than double, to $2 an ounce from 96 cents an ounce, beginning August 1. The wholesale tax on cigars, dips and other kinds of tobacco will rise to 75 percent from 46 percent. The tax hike is aimed at generating an additional $440 million in 2010-2011 tax revenue to support health care programs.

This would include subsidies for AIDS drugs, money for tobacco cessation programs and $71.6 million for the state cancer research center in Buffalo. "I just don't see how this process is going to result in anything other than taxes and fees and borrowing," John A. DeFrancisco, the Senate Finance Committee's ranking Republican member, said in a statement. "This is not a way to run state government."