Posted on 01/11/2007 8:54:05 AM PST by Namyak
Smoking fine may jump to $1,000 BY STACY BROWN STAFF WRITER
Fines for violating Scranton’s new smoking ban could rise to as much as $1,000 if Scranton Councilwoman Sherry Nealon Fanucci has her way.
“It’s insulting when you read the newspaper and turn on the television and see some restaurant and bar owners openly saying that they are going to break the law,” Ms. Fanucci said Wednesday.
“(Tonight), I will ask for the ordinance to be amended to include either a $500 fine or a $1,000 fine to be levied against establishment owners who allow smoking.”
Last month, City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting smoking in nearly all bars, restaurants and other public places in Scranton. Those who want to smoke must stay at least 20 feet from an establishment’s entrance. Currently, violators can be fined $300.
Bars that derive 90 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales are able to apply for a one-year exemption.
However, some business owners have turned up their noses at the ban.
“What do people do here but eat, drink and smoke,” said Dan Rinaldi, owner of Whistles Pub and Eatery on Franklin Avenue. “I’m not telling them not to light up, and I’m not telling them to light up. I’m disgusted by this.”
Whistles does not qualify for the exemption because the business makes more than 10 percent of its revenue in food sales. The ban would be better if it were county wide, Mr. Rinaldi added.
The Ground Round, a Lackawanna Avenue pub and eatery, also refuses to turn customers away because they are smokers, said manager Nicole Waldron.
Business owners should understand the ban is not optional, Ms. Fanucci said.
“It is the law and we all must obey the law,” she said.
In addition to possibly amending the smoking ban at its meeting, Council is expected to continue setting tax rates for 2007. The five-member board agreed last week to send resolutions on seven different taxes or fees into committee, meaning the measures can be voted on tonight and next week. Most of the levies, such as the mercantile license tax and the wage tax, remain unchanged from 2005.
Property and building improvement taxes are increasing by about 25 percent. The tax rate will be 103.14 mills for land and 22.4 mills for buildings and improvements. A mill equals $1 for each $1,000 of assessed value.
The tax increase is expected to generate $2.5 million and cover a budget gap. In 2006, the city’s property tax rate was 82.122 mills on land and 17.86 mills on improvements.
Last month council amended Mayor Chris Doherty’s 2007 proposed operating budget by voting to use $1.5 million of the invested proceeds from the sale of the city’s golf course three years ago to offset a proposed hike in the real estate transfer tax, which would have jumped from 2.2 percent to 3.4 percent.
“At the time, I didn’t know exactly what the transfer tax would be, I was hoping it would stay the same or close to the same (when the motion to amend the budget was made),” said Councilman Robert McGoff, who proposed the change in the budget proposal.
As it stands, the transfer tax will rise slightly from 2.2 percent to 2.5 percent.
Council meets at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Contact the writer: sbrown@timesshamrock.com
Barack Obama better stay out of Scranton.
It seems like no matter how bad federal and state officials can be, local and county officials are often much worse in terms of abusing their power and shoving people around. Big fish in a small pond; or, less charitably, busybodies who, under the guise of "serving the community", use their offices to impose their will on the community.
This wouldn't be a problem for me. I usually go in where the TV's are.
ML/NJ
people should have the absolute choice whether or not to allow smoking in their privately owned establishments..if you don't like the smoke, go elsewhere..plenty of places won't allow it..
I'm waiting for some city somewhere to legislate that all grocery stores MUST use discount cards so they can keep track of what you buy..for what you ask?? simple..it gives the insurance companies the info they need to determine whether or not you get health insurance.."We're sorry Mr. Smith, last month you bought chicken on several occasions that had skin on them, you bought whole milk instead of 2%, you bought too much pasta and bread..all those carbs are bad for you..we now deem you a risk for heart attack, insurance denied"..if it isn't here in some form by now, it's coming..
"It seems like no matter how bad federal and state officials can be, local and county officials are often much worse in terms of abusing their power and shoving people around."
Indeed, they do. Try getting a school bus removed from the street in front of your house. It took me over a year.
I use those cards all the time for the discounts but not one of them has any real info behind them.
There have been cases where a shopper's purchase history was used against them in slip'n'fall claim.
If you think that it can happen, it will...
if it was used in a slip 'n fall (I've heard this too), then they DO have a purchase history..I never use those cards..it's no ones business what I buy but mine..
10% per year property tax? Is that an error?
(eg, $60 000 tax per year on a $600 000 house?)
...and there'll be a $50,000 fine if they smell trans-fats on your breath. ~sarc
“Tell your friends I don’t want a lot. Just enough to wet my beak.”
I spent part of yesterday in Juvenile Court with my 16 year-old son because of a "curfew violation". Seems our Nashville Metro Council has decided they're in charge of what time my kid comes home. It wasn't even a school night, either. They've got a great racket going. If you plead guilty, we collect $120. If you plead not guilty, we find you guilty anyway and you pay $50 more. I figure they're bringing in nearly $6,000 a day. The cops are the "sales reps" dragging the net out on the street and, once you're in it, they WILL close the deal.
Why don't they make everything illegal? That way we can all be classified lawbreakers and go to their re-education camps.
Sounds like Chicago.
10% per year property tax? Is that an error?
(eg, $60 000 tax per year on a $600 000 house?)
...bad math on your part. $22.40 per $1,000 assessed value equals about $11,000 per $500,000. That's assessed value.
I think it's every town. Make the ka-ching sound to fill up those government coffers. We're all criminals and they just take turns collecting an extra "tax" from us.
The tax rate will be 103.14 mills for land
More like wishful thinking on my part. They are seriously charging for the combination of land and buildings?
I'll bet people ignored her in high school, too.
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