Cigarette Retailers Welcome Tax Change

Source from:  Observer-Dispatch 12/17/2008

Leonard Lazarus of Canastota made his way to the SavOn convenience store counter in Verona and paid about $150 for six car?tons of cigarettes on Monday. He was stocking up before any price increase on cigarettes as a result of a bill that Gov. David Paterson signed that will force the collection of taxes on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations. Lazarus said he doesn't want to have to pay more than he has to for the smokes and that the law is unfair. "I'm mad about it," he said. Jason Crep had a different perspective, however. Crep owns and manages Cigars & More in Oneida, and he supports the bill. He said that, without the bill, his store is at a "significant" disadvantage because he must pay more for his cigarettes, which are taxed. That means his prices can't be competitive with less expensive, non-taxed cigarettes sold by Indians. "Especially being in Oneida, we're at a significant disadvantage," he said. That's because he's near the Oneida Indian Nation's SavOn stores, which sell cigarettes. Crep said he doesn't sell regular cigarettes because it would cost him more to buy them wholesale, with tax, than it would to buy them at the price the Oneidas sell them for. Instead, Crep sells specialty cigarettes, cigars, humidors and cigar accessories. Crep was not the only retailer pleased with the new law. John MacDougall, president and founder of Canastota-based Nice-N-Easy Grocery Shoppes, said the legislation is long overdue. "I think it's a great day for Upstate New York and all of New York," he said. "It's something that is sorely needed to be done, and I think this will help Gov. Paterson help bring our finance situation under much better control." There are 83 Nice-N-Easy stores in upstate New York, and the stores sell cigars and cigarettes, MacDougall said. Competing with the Indian nations isn't easy, MacDougall said. "It has been very difficult, when they have a huge advantage from a price standpoint," he said. Enditem