Shoppers don’t like inflation. For drinkers and smokers, there’s a silver lining. Your sin tax costs — which pay for repairs at Cleveland’s three professional sports stadiums — are in decline.
Numerically speaking, you pay the same 60 cents today for a bottle of, say, Beefeater gin as you did in 1990, when Cuyahoga County voters first levied the tax. But that 60 cents in 1990 is the equivalent of about $1.48 in today’s money.
That’s one reason why Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne is talking about an “inflationary adjustment” to the sin tax. That’s a nice way of saying quadrupling the tax that the county levies on cigarettes, beer, wine, mixed drinks and liquor.
Quadrupling the sin tax would go beyond just adjusting for inflation. The 60 cents for liquor would rise to $2.40, the 1.5 cents for a bottle of beer up to 6 cents, and so on.
Gateway Economic Development Corp., which owns the ballpark and arena, has been scraping for cash to pay for repairs. Construction costs have gone up plenty since 1990. And despite major renovations at the Cavaliers’ Rocket Arena and the Guardians’ Progressive Field, the teams say more work is needed.
An increase in the sin tax would take a countywide vote. Before that, lawmakers would have to change state law.
Ronayne said the teams and the Greater Cleveland Partnership are also part of the conversation. The county executive wants new community benefits with an increase, though he declined to get into specifics.
“I do think there’s a legitimate conversation to have with the public of what’s the price to pay to assure long-term professional sports in the county,” he told Signal Cleveland. “And this county has been pretty good on paying something for that benefit.”
There are political hurdles. According to a polling memo that circulated among public officials and business leaders last year, voters would likely tank a sin tax if it paid for repairs at a new Browns stadium in Brook Park.
Ronayne said there’s been talk of a Browns “forbearance period.” The team could wait before tapping sin tax proceeds. There have also been discussions about whether to charge the sin tax as a percentage of the sale price, he said.
Currently, the tax is levied by volume, not price. That’s why proceeds don’t grow with inflation. It also means that you pay the same amount in taxes whether you’re buying a 16-year Lagavulin scotch or a lower-shelf Jim Beam bourbon. And don’t Jim Beam drinkers deserve a break?