by Megan Schiffres
WHITE STONE—Town council on Thursday, November 1, held public hearings on proposals to increase taxes on cigarettes and prepared food.
Council is considering an increase in the tax rate on cigarettes by 33%, from 15 cents to 20 cents per pack. Kevin Crawford of Ocran objected to the proposed tax during the hearing, saying he would prefer the county tax everyone equally instead of punishing smokers.
“A cigarette tax or any kind of sin tax is a very regressive tax and I personally don’t think that it’s the right way to go about funding what we do here, by placing that tax burden on, frankly, members of our community that are least able to afford it,” Crawford said.
Council also held a hearing on a proposal to establish a tax rate of 2.5% on prepared foods purchased in the town. Crawford again spoke against the proposed tax and Howard Kyzer of Ocran agreed with…
