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ALBANY---If a proposal under consideration by the Pataki administration that would raise the price of a pack of cigarettes by $1.50 for smokers outside New York City is adopted, the state would then host the highest excise tax on cigarettes in the country.
While state officials say it's designed to stop people from smoking, critics say that it will just encourage more people to cross state lines to buy their smokes or to buy them at tax-free Indian reservations.
The proposal is part of the 2006-2007 proposed budget of Pataki's and would bring the excise tax into line with that currently assessed in New York City. The last hike in the excise tax was in 2002 from $1.11 to $1.50 per pack.
But instead of the state collecting more revenue from the 2002 tax hike, it collected less with the take dropping from $1.445 billion to $1.12 billion. This year, officials they expect to rake in $962 million in excise taxes from cigarettes. 1-9-06
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
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