ALBANY – Gov. Paterson gave the Legislature another take-it-or-leave-it proposal Friday – this time over a whopping hike in cigarette taxes.
Paterson included a $1.60 per-pack increase in the state’s cigarette tax in the emergency spending bills he sent the Legislature to keep the government running for the next two weeks.
Taxes on cigars, chewing tobacco and other tobacco products also would be increased from 46% of the wholesale price to 75%, state Budget Director Robert Megna said.
“Increasing the price hopefully gets people to stop using the products,” Megna said. “An added benefit to that is we raise revenue.”
Full story: Gov. Paterson proposes a $1.60 per-pack increase on cigarettes to help plug state’s budget deficit.