11/25/2007
Bad for business?
David W. Jones
DJones@News-Herald.com

Critics claim job losses since ban
Even as some cigarette lovers might go outside the bar or workplace grounds to light up as the winter gets colder, stories differ on how Ohio's year-old smoking ban is working.
Ohio voters approved the smoking ban, which went into statewide effect a year ago in December with enforcement starting in May after state laws were clarified.
At the anti-ban Ohio Beverage Dealers Association, Government Affairs Director Jacobs Evans reads an e-mail from a 66-year-old bar owner:
"Been in the business 44 years and 90 percent of the customers are smokers. Business is down.
I had to max out my credit card and can't get home equity. I'm going to lose my house and file for home equity."
Said Evans: "Hearing from people like that, it's some saying business is down 15 percent or some saying 80 percent. It doesn't make any difference if business is down or not. The money's not coming through the doors. So they're closing.
"We're seeing a direct job loss of 3,000 since the smoking ban went into effect last November. It's a total job loss of 3,800 to 3,900 jobs. It's a loss of state and local taxes of $38 million. Business is off 25 percent, mostly from smokers. The cold weather is starting up outside, so we don't know what's going to happen next."
Ohio saw the loss of 6,800 jobs in October from the same month last year, mainly in goods-producing and service-providing industries, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported.

Cigarette, liquor revenues
On Nov. 6, a year after the smoking ban was approved by voters, the governor's Ohio Budget and Management Office reported a drop in cigarette tax revenue.
The state received $278.04 million from the cigarette tax, down from $281.5 million in that period last year, OBM said.
"The biggest factor was the statewide smoking ban," said Mike McKinney, a communications director at the Ohio Department of Taxation, said of the OBM numbers.
"Historically, cigarette tax revenue has been declining at the rate of about 2 percent a year for at least 10 years. If you consider the revenue in 2006, the loss is actually more than the historical level."
Two things are up in the air.
One is Gov. Ted Strickland's plan to sell $5 billion in bonds backed by payments from big tobacco for causing some health problems.
The other is congressional proposals to raise the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes from 45 to 61 cents to help pay for the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
According to the Ohio Division of Liquor Control, the state's spirituous liquor sales reached a record of $627.7 million in fiscal year 2007, which ended June 30.
That was up $33.9 million from fiscal year 2006 and was because of increases in product prices and retail sales, the agency said.
Such Ohio sales might reach $1 billion-plus for all this year by Dec. 31, the agency said.
Beer and wine sales created $20 million in state tax revenue through Oct. 31 this year, up slightly from $19.9 million in that period last year.
Hard liquor sales created $11.6 million in taxes so far this year, up slightly from $11.5 million through Oct. 31 last year.

Complaints
All this comes as 17,500 complaints have been filed statewide by the Ohio Department of Health against private businesses and public places for allegedly violating the smoking ban.
Only 59 of such places were fined, including one in Lake County - the 306 Lounge in Mentor.
"We've seen people in places using paper cups as ashtrays. We've even seen big garbage cans behind the bar in taverns and people using them as ashtrays," said Joel Lucia, Lake County health commissioner.
"There have been places where it's last call and the late-night customer, and they'll light up. But for the most part in most places people aren't smoking.
"I think every time someone lights up, we'll get a call. But I also think we're looking at almost 100 percent of the places being smoke free.
"As long as the law is enforced uniformly, there is no place to smoke."
Since the state started enforcing the ban and issuing warnings on May 3, local health departments have logged 17,900 complaints.
Violations could start with an initial warning or a $100 fine. Additional violations could mean fines of $500 to $2,500.
Of the 59 fines, 24 were against clubs like the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Amvets, American Legion, Moose Lodge and Eagles Club.
Liquor Control, meanwhile, reports a major decline in its fines against bars and stores. These fines are mainly for selling to underage customers but also for drunken patrons and gambling.
After citing 2,610 businesses in 2002 and collecting $2.4 million in fines, the agency expects that to be down 1,370 cases and $1 million in fines by Dec. 31 this year.
State budget constraints slowed down funding of some sting operations, while officials improved technical age identification checks, Liquor Control reported.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety credited businesses with doing a better job.
Phil Craig, executive director of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, credits the drop in citations to law-abiding customers, tavern owners and teenagers who don't go into bars.
"The fact is, they're finding less to cite," the Associated Press quoted Craig. "It's kind of fundamental. If we decrease the errors, they're going to cite less."

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