August 5, 2016 Patrick Lagreid Regulations,  Taxes

North Dakota Voters Could Double Cigar Tax

A group of anti-tobacco advocates couldn’t get a pair of tobacco tax increase bills through the North Dakota legislature last year, so this year they are asking voters to approve it. This week the North Dakota Secretary of State certified that the petition had gathered enough signatures and the proposal will appear on the November ballot.

The initiative, sponsored by Raise It For Health ND, seeks to double the tax levied on premium cigars and other tobacco products from 28% to 56% of the wholesale price. For a cigar with an MSRP of $9.50, the cost at the register will jump from $12.16 to $14.82 by halfwheel estimates.

The proposal also seeks an increase in the cigarette tax from $0.44 per pack to $2.20 per pack, and would eliminate special tax treatments such as weight-based taxing of some tobacco products.

Should the proposal pass, the money raised would be split between the state’s General Fund, the funds of individual cities, the Veterans Tobacco Tax Trust Fund and the Community Health Trust Fund. Raise It For Health ND estimates that the new taxes would bring in approximately $100 million per biennium.

North Dakota Raise It For Health ND Taxes
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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.

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