{"id":801055,"date":"2019-11-05T19:53:43","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T02:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=374046"},"modified":"2019-11-05T19:53:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T02:53:43","slug":"measure-1a-summit-voters-take-stand-on-nicotine-and-tobacco-pass-new-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/measure-1a-summit-voters-take-stand-on-nicotine-and-tobacco-pass-new-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Measure 1A: Summit voters take stand on nicotine and tobacco, pass new tax"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FRISCO \u2014 Tobacco is about to get a lot more expensive in Summit County.<\/p>\n

In a middling turnout for Election Day that managed about 7,500 voters, Summit County residents took a massive step forward in their efforts to combat nicotine and tobacco use in the area. Residents overwhelmingly voted to pass a new tax that officials hope will help to price the harmful products out of use and improve the overall health of the community.<\/p>\n

The ballot measure, known as 1A, will increase the sales tax
\non cigarettes to $4 per pack, along with a hefty 40% increase in sales tax for
\nall other nicotine and tobacco products \u2014 including e-cigarettes and other
\nvaping devices \u2014 that will increase 10% annually for four years through 2024.<\/p>\n

For officials, the move was important in helping to ensure a healthy and vibrant community moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing we know is that this is one of the most effective ways to get people, especially youth, to reduce their consumption of tobacco and nicotine products,\u201d Summit County Commissioner Thomas Davidson, an outspoken proponent of the measure, said following the election. \u201cStudy after study has shown that increasing the cost of these products is the most effective way to reduce use.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community members largely seemed to agree. The measure passed with about 74% of the vote, according to early results, with 4,449 voters coming out in favor of the new tax compared with 1,582 opposing it.<\/p>\n

Summit County wasn\u2019t the only Western Slope community seeking to pass a similar measure on their ballots. Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties also put nicotine and tobacco taxes to a vote. Early results indicate those counties will pass their measures, as well.<\/p>\n

In Summit County, the new tax will go into effect Jan. 1, and consumers will see the first 10% bump Jan. 1, 2021. According to county estimates, the tax is expected to pull in an additional $3.8 million in revenue throughout the county in the first year. Though, officials say creating a new revenue stream isn\u2019t the main goal of the tax, and the hope is that revenue will continue to fall as nicotine and tobacco users drop the habit.<\/p>\n

The new funds have been prioritized to help pay for smoking cessation, prevention and reduction programs around the county. Earlier this year, Dillon, Frisco, Breckenridge and Silverthorne all entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the county that gives each individual jurisdiction control over the tax revenue collected there, each agreeing to use the money to fund broad health initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bonus of doing things this way is there will be revenue the towns and county will each have to provide funding for prevention and cessation programs, and that means a healthier Summit County,\u201d Davidson said. \u201cThe funding has been approved by a wide margin. The next thing you\u2019ll see us do is go to work developing these programs. \u2026 That\u2019s all to come, and now that work gets to begin in earnest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new tax comes as a result of a bill that passed through the state Legislature earlier this year allowing local counties and towns to self-regulate tobacco and nicotine sales independent from state regulations.<\/p>\n

Officials around the county took the opportunity in stride, hoping that an increased tax rate would prove a big enough thorn in the side of smokers, chewers and vaporizer users to force a change in behavior.<\/p>\n

It was the county\u2019s youths who served as the motivation and driving force behind the greater anti-smoking movement in the area. In 2017, students at Summit High School reported troublingly high rates of vaping, according to the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey. The study \u2014 conducted biennially by the Colorado Department of Public Health \u2014 revealed that more than 40% of students reported using a vaping device within the past 30 days compared with 27% of students in the rest of the state.<\/p>\n

It was also Summit High School students with the Youth
\nEmpowerment Society of Summit \u2014 along with representatives with the county\u2019s
\npublic health department \u2014 who helped lead the push for further enforcement and
\ntaxation by heading to county commissioner and town council meetings to spread
\ntheir message.<\/p>\n

But the tax is only the most recent in a number of other initiatives the county\u2019s government entities have taken over recent months to check nicotine and tobacco use in the area. The county and the towns all recently passed ordinances to further restrict use, including increasing the minimum purchase age for all nicotine and tobacco products from 18 to 21 years old and adding new licensing requirements for retailers throughout the county, which also outline new enforcement policies.<\/p>\n

And while a majority of voters came out to support the measure, it\u2019s worth noting that there also were dissenters for the new tax, particularly among smokers and business owners who rely on nicotine and tobacco sales. Though officials, along with voters, ultimately felt the potential health improvements were for the community\u2019s greater good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of the voters of Summit County because there are a lot of organizations across the state looking at Summit tonight and saying that our county is going in the right direction,\u201d Davidson said. \u201cAnd that those voters just did a really great thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FRISCO \u2014 Tobacco is about to get a lot more expensive in Summit County. In a middling turnout for Election Day that managed about 7,500 voters, Summit County residents took a massive step forward in their efforts to combat nicotine and tobacco use in the area. Residents overwhelmingly voted to pass a new tax that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-801055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 10:16:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801055\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}