County Council to Vote on CAC Cigarette Tax Renewal Ballot Placement Today

Cuyahoga County Council will discuss for the final time the resolution to place the CAC cigarette tax renewal on the November ballot. 

The measure, if approved by voters, would extend the 1.5-cent tax on cigarettes sold in Cuyahoga County for another 10 years. The tax benefits Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, which in turn distributes funds to arts institutions across the county ($1,232,694 for the Cleveland Museum of Art; $1,395,695 for Playhouse Square; $989,574 for the Rock Hall for 2015-2016, for instance, along with some smaller organizations.

By and large over the past decade, the tax has pulled in some $15 million annually.

The tax renewal proposal hasn't generated the outcry that the sin tax renewal campaign did in 2014. Among the talk of the town, this measure is sort of being taken for granted. Paul Dolan, owner of the Cleveland Indians, chimed in and pretty much inadvertently summed up why there's no robust civic debate over this suggested use of public money (nor many other ideas): "There are a lot of good things going on in Cleveland right now, and we really don't want to do anything that could slow that momentum," Dolan said.

The meeting takes place at 5 p.m. at County HQ, on the corner of East 9th and Prospect.