By Sydney Devory
City officials in Buena Vista say they plan to use revenue from a new tax on cigarettes to maintain Glen Maury Park.
“This was an opportunity to help invest in our parks and recreation to offset the costs to a community that cigarettes can be,” said Mayor Tyson Cooper, who cast the tie-breaking vote two weeks ago on the tax.
He said the extra 25 cents charged per pack of cigarettes, effective Jan. 1, will benefit public health by discouraging people from smoking and encouraging them to use the park.
City officials project the tax will yield an additional $100,000 per fiscal year in revenue for the city. He said the money will be used to pay employees at Glen Maury Park to maintain the trails, make minor repairs, clean the bathrooms, and cut the grass.
The city was previously pulling money for the park out of the general fund.
“It will allow the city to do what we need to do: Maintaining infrastructure, providing schools and public safety. So, the hope and expectation are that we wouldn’t need to cut anything and wouldn’t need to raise property taxes,” the mayor said.
Steven Bolster, the city’s finance director, says the tax won’t be confined solely to BV residents. It also will generate revenue from people passing through town.
Bolster said people passing through BV could stop in town for a sandwich, a coke and a pack of cigarettes, and be on their way.
Business impact
At The Hit Shop in BV, a pack of Eagle 20’s cigarettes cost $6.89, excluding all existing taxes. The federal cigarette tax is $1.01, and Virgina’s state cigarette tax is 60 cents. That brings a pack of Eagle 20’s to $8.50. With the city’s new tax, a pack of Eagle 20’s would cost $8.75.
Other brands have different starting prices. The cheapest pack of Marlboro cigarettes sold at Mel’s Grocery costs $6.64, plus federal and state taxes. A pack of Newport Cigarettes at The Hit Shop costs $9.79, plus federal and state taxes. Virginia Slims sold at Mel’s Grocery start at a higher price of $10.99 per pack, plus federal and state taxes. No matter the brand, each pack of cigarettes will increase by 25 cents when BV’s tax goes into effect.
But the cheapest brand will still be lower in BV than the state average—including all taxes. The average price of a pack of cigarettes in the state of Virginia is $9.11. Even with BV’s tax, Eagle 20’s bought in BV will cost less than the state average.
Rockbridge County and Lexington implemented cigarette taxes in 2021 after the Virginia General Assembly gave counties and cities the authority to impose what are known as sin taxes.
Owners and employees at gas stations and smoke shops in Buena Vista are not happy about the tax.
Max Patel said that some customers at Mel’s Grocery live in Lexington and come to BV to buy cigarettes because they are cheaper. He said he thinks the tax will cost BV businesses because people will stop coming from Lexington if prices in BV go up.
Cooper disagrees. He said the city has tracked changes in sales tax revenue since surrounding areas implemented the tax four years ago. He said there hasn’t been a dramatic increase in cigarette sales in BV since then.
“There are a couple of local businesses that say that the business is better [in the past four years], but there’s no evidence of that,” the mayor said.
Businesses will be required to apply to the city for a permit to sell cigarettes. Distributors will then be required to purchase stamps to put on each pack of cigarettes. Retail stores will get shipments of the stamped packs from the distributor and sell them for 25 cents more.
It will cost $5,000 to procure the stamps, according to the city budget. City officials are in the process of finding a vendor.
Changing habits
James Howell, a cashier at the Exxon on West 29th Street, said he does not think the tax will change people’s habits. He says cigarette prices have doubled in the past 10 years, but people still come in every day to buy them.
“I want to quit, and I have tried before, but I can’t,” said an Exxon customer who did not want to be named. “They always get more expensive, and I always continue to buy them.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, cigarette prices in the U.S. have increased by over 50% since 2015. The number of packs sold has dropped by 27%, but dollar sales have decreased by only 6%. That means fewer people are buying cigarettes as the prices go up.
Another customer who did not want to be named says she has been smoking for years. Her kids ask her why and she says she doesn’t know what to tell them.
“If prices on cigarettes go up, it is just less money I have to pay the bills,” she said.
Howell said the tax might cause vape sales to go up because vaping is cheaper.
The tax will just impact cigarettes— not vaping or other kinds of tobacco.
The mayor said he doesn’t think BV’s tax will encourage many people to break their smoking habits.
“I don’t think this tax will change behavior,” Cooper said. “I hope it does, but I don’t think it will.”