Hopewell council adopts ordinance formally creating 40-cent cigarette tax
HOPEWELL – It is now official: If you buy cigarettes in Hopewell next year, expect to pay 40 cents more per pack.
Tuesday night, City Council voted 4-1 to formally enact the ordinance that was rooted in the recent passage of Hopewell’s operating budget. Even though the budget goes into effect July 1, the tax itself will not be implemented until Jan. 1, 2025.
It is the first time Hopewell has ever imposed a tobacco tax.
Ward 6 Councilor Brenda Pelham, who ultimately voted for the ordinance, said she was a bit confused by the timing of the tax enactment. Pelham said she thought the cigarette tax would go into place at the same time as the budget.
“That’s six months of revenue we could have had,” she said. “I thought this was projected for the whole year.”
City Manager Concetta Manker said the extra time for re-enactment was necessary to get Hopewell retailers ready to start collecting the tax. However, it still needed to be included in the budget vote to give the city permission to collect the tax, which is expected to generate around $250,000 in revenue this fiscal year.
When it was first proposed, the per-pack rate was set at 80 cents. However, that exceeded the allowable limit under Virginia’s tax law, so the recommendation was cut in half.
Vice Mayor Jasmine Gore cast the lone dissenting vote. Pelham was joined in support by Mayor Johnny Partin, Ward 1 Councilor Rita Joyner and Ward 5 Councilor Janice Denton.
The tobacco tax was one of several money adjustments in the budget on which citizens were not too keen. Leading that list was a four-cent increase in the real-estate tax rate, a move roundly criticized as an extra burden on citizens still reeling from major increases in property assessment values.
The upcoming budget also includes a $2 increase in Hopewell’s lodging tax, and a jump in the stormwater fees. Not related to the budget but still a sore subject with residents was a $7 hike in trash-collection fees, which also kicks in on July 1.
That increase was due to Hopewell changing its refuse vendor from Meridian Services to Waste Management Services. For several months, citizens had complained about what they said was subpar customer service and hit-and-miss trash collection.
Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Hopewell passes 40-cent cigarette tax
