Posted on 05/19/2009 1:47:49 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
San Francisco, CA (AHN) - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is hoping to impose a fee on one of the biggest culprits of streets and sanitation systems across the nation: the cigarette butt.
Newsom's proposal, which is slated to be introduced next month to the San Francisco Boards of Supervisors, would add 33 cents to the cost of a pack of cigarettes in an effort to offset the $10.7 million the city spends removing discarded butts from the city streets, gutter, and drainpipes.
Despite the likely protests from tobacco companies and smokers, Newsom maintains that the new law will help reduce city costs as well as encourage people to kick the habit.
"In general, fees help reduce the consumption and use of tobacco," Newsom said. "And we think that will have a very beneficial public health component."
San Francisco has already proved to be one of the toughest cities for smokers. Last year the city imposed a ban on the sale of tobacco at drugstores, a restriction that is being challenged in state and federal courts.
But this is not the first time Mayor Newsom has signaled a readiness to legislate health, proposing a fee in 2007 on any large store that sells drinks with high levels of fructose corn syrup.
Newsom said the cigarette butts became a target after the city's annual "little audit" found that cigarette discards make up a quarter of all the trash in the city's public spaces. Considering the city spends some $44 million a year on litter cleanup, and is facing a $500 million deficit for the coming fiscal year, the cigarette tax seemed like a logical conclusion.
"It's not a huge part of the overall budget," the mayor said of the $11 million or so in annual revenue expected to be generated by the fee. "But it's enough to keep street sweepers employed."
The city would make billions!
Unless he is going to be laying off all thoise who pick up the cig butts, this is just a money grab.
There should be a politician tax...every word they utter should be taxed at a rate of a buck a syllable.
[I really need my own planet...I am so disgusted with the a$$holes on this one,,,,]
There’s another basis for taxing homosexuality, who wants to pick up used condoms? Especially in SF?
I especially hate the night visual of seeing the smoldering butt bounce on the asphalt.
-PJ
Does Bawney Fwank know about this?
[I really need my own planet...I am so disgusted with the a$$holes on this one,,,,]
_______________________________________
‘Beam us up Scotty.’
And I don’t recommend the new Star Trek
Reminds me of the old saw,,,,”I knew she was smokin’, so I pinched her butt!”
“This has nothing to do with ‘littering’ and everything to do with greed.”
Totally agreed. Reminds me of lyrics from “Les Miserables”:
“Charge them for the lice
Extra for the mice
Two percent for looking in the mirror twice
Here a little slice, there a little cut
Three percent for sleeping with the windows shut.”
I don't care who you are, the word "butt" is funny!
This guy is dumber than you know what.
HA....one time I was walking thru the neighborhood grocery store parking lot on my way to shop....a young chick thru her bottle cap out of the car window...right in front of me...so, I bent down...picked it up, and threw it right back in the car! And, said....”don’t litter my neighborhood” and just kept on walking.
If they ever do this where I live, I’ll be emptying all my ashtrays on the city streets. Will probably throw out those McDonald’s cups too. Might as well get my money’s worth.
LOL, when I read that I was pretty sure you didn't live in San Antonio. I was right.
Agreed.
So, can you save your butts and turn them in to a reclaimation center and get your money back, like you do soda bottles? Might even give the homeless a way to make some money on the side. . .
“Fat, hairy, gay and stupid is no way to go through life, Son.” ;)
Finally this is one tax I can agree with. If there is one city in the US that needs a ‘butt tax’, it’s San Francisco.
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