Want to indulge? Better open your wallet: Higher fees for cigarette and alcohol retailers in New York are being passed on in the form of higher prices for smokers and drinkers.
Even animals are not immune: New York state established a $10 entrance fee this year for each horse running in a parimutuel race.
The National Conference of State Legislatures says similar increases are being imposed by local governments around the country.
While some economists believe the worst of the recession may now be over, most governments are bracing for more lean years. Elected officials nationwide have floated novel proposals: in Nevada, a tax on legal brothels; in California, a $50-per-ounce tax on medical marijuana. Florida lawmakers are now mulling a fee for each cow or pig slaughtered in the state, and Kentucky officials are considering imposing a surcharge for downloading a ring tone on a cell phone.
Officials say the fee increases are a fair way to raise revenue because they affect the actual users of a service rather than the public at large. But many budget watchdog groups argue that the fees are too often used as a crutch by politicians hoping to avoid making hard decisions about cutting spending.
“They’re an easy out,” said Charles M. Brecher, research director for the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan organization that analyzes municipal spending.
- Government microcharges closing budget gaps, but what’s next, sidewalk tolls? DeseretNews.com, August 30 2009.
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