Tobacco tax petition certified

DARRELL L. BREESE

Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - A citizen-led initiative to repeal the recently adopted tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products on Thursday came one step closer to making it onto the Oct. 4 general election ballot.

Mat-Su Borough Clerk Michelle McGehee announced that her office has certified the application for the petition, which calls for voters to override the tax the assembly approved in May.

Originally presented to the clerk for consideration by Nola Bragg of Wasilla, the application garnered additional sponsorship from 24 borough residents.

McGehee sent the initial application back to the sponsors because of filing errors on June 21, but was able to quickly approve it after corrections were made.

In her letter of certification, McGehee laid out the next hurdles the petition has to overcome.

"Per state statute, I have two weeks from the date of certification to prepare the petitions," she wrote. "And in order to get the matter on the October 4, regular election ballot - it will be necessary for all signatures to be submitted to my office no later than July 26, 2005."

State law has recently changed regarding initiative and referendum questions, stating that they cannot go on a ballot until 60 days has passed from the date of certification of a petition.

If the group wishes to adhere to the dates outlined above, they will have to receive certification from the clerk's office by Aug. 5, which is exactly 60 days before the

election.

Co-sponsor of the petition application Mike Butler, owner of Up in Smoke 2.0 discount tobacco store, expressed confidence that they will be able to collect 1,788 signatures from registered voters by the Aug. 5 deadline.

"We collected over 4,000 signatures opposing the tax when they first passed it," Butler said. "That wasn't as formal of a process and it took just two weeks. We will likely have a little over three weeks to collect signatures from registered voters. I don't think there will be much of a problem getting things done."

The tobacco tax takes effect Friday, adding $1 to the price of a pack of cigarettes and a 45-percent tax on other tobacco products.

Contact Darrell Breese at 352-2267 or darrell.breese@frontiersman.com.