Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993 TAG: 9303280022
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ABINGDON LENGTH: Medium
"It would further erode our markets," said Joe Thomas III, a member of the Sullivan County Farm Bureau's board of directors and the Burley Stabilization Corp.
Thomas said burley growers already are worried about the increased amount of tobacco being imported into the United States.
President Clinton has suggested that the federal excise tax be increased between 24 cents and $2 a pack. The administration has suggested the revenues might provide a way to pay for health problems associated with smoking.
Smoking opponents have said a $2 tax would raise about $35 billion a year for smokers to pay for their own health care and also discourage smoking among children and poor adults. Tobacco-related illnesses kill 435,000 Americans each year and related health care costs total $50 billion annually, opponents said.
Tom Bundy, co-owner of Southwest Warehouse, said the tax increase targets a small part of the national economy and the Southeastern United States, where most tobacco is grown.
"You're going to direct it right here at a segment of the country and a part of the economy that can least afford it," he said.
The quota - the amount of tobacco farmers are allowed to grow each year - for the 1993 burley crop has been cut by 10 percent, which is the largest decrease allowed; and buyer intentions are 20 percent lower than the 1992 season.
Many say the jump in tobacco imports is related to the quota cuts, which some believe would have been more than 20 percent if allowed.
Thomas noted that cigarettes already are heavily taxed in Tennessee, according to information provided by the state's Farm Bureau.
The Tennessee Farm Bureau reported in a newsletter that 1 pound of tobacco yields 500 cigarettes or 25 packs, Thomas said. For a pack of cigarettes sold for $1.50 in Tennessee, the total tax collected, including state and federal excise taxes and state and local sales taxes, would total 45.4 cents.
Harry Arnold, president of the Washington County Farm Bureau, estimated at least 60 percent of area growers depend on burley to pay their property taxes. Some often purchase seed and fertilizer, paying for it when the burley crop is sold.
Jack Atwell, a Washington County burley grower, said, "I think [the tax is] a little bit ridiculous if they want to sell tobacco.
"When you take that much out of the spending community, you hurt the economy as a whole," he said.
by CNB