High cigarette taxes means Cook County collects less cigarette taxes

Five years ago the dysfunctional Cook County Board added a dollar to its per-pack cigarette tax, bringing it to $2.00 a pack. As I've written many times before, "sin taxes" rarely bring in the revenue forecasted by the politicians. And in Illinois there is a spend-first-figure-out what-to-do-later attitude among our public servants. When revenue is down, our deficits go up--which is something we are familiar with in the Prairie State.

In 2010, Cook, America's second-most populous county, collected $126 million in cigarette taxes. But in '06, the County collected $200 million. Revenues have dropped $74 million. Some smokers have quit and the economy has gotten worse, but the most likely explanation for the revenue plummet is that people are purchasing their smokes on the internet or in Indiana. Some retailers--the County says they are going to crack down on them--are selling cigarettes without the County stamp.

But perhaps Cook County would collect more in cigarette taxes if they were taxed at a lower rate.

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