ASPEN — Aspen voters will be asked in November to bless a ballot question aimed at putting a $3 tax on pack of cigarettes and a 40 percent tax on other tobacco products, the City Council decided Monday.
The ballot language still needs to be adopted through a resolution — the City Council will get a gander at several ballot possibilities at its formal meeting next Monday — and also will address raising cigarette pack taxes at a rate of 10 cents annually until it reaches $4.
The council’s decision to have voters decide on a tax follows its move in June to raise the purchase age for all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, from 18 to 21, making it the state’s first county or municipality to do so. Its reasoning was that raising the age would deter Aspen’s younger set from using and becoming addicted to tobacco products.
The new age-minimum law takes effect Jan. 1, with the city expecting to forgo the $75,000 it has collected on a yearly basis from state taxes on tobacco sales.
