Cayuga and Seneca counties are mounting an 11th-hour effort to encourage their residents to express support for the state’s proposal to limit the flow of untaxed cigarettes to the Cayuga Indians and other Native American retailers.
Residents have until Monday to write the state Department of Taxation and Finance about the proposed regulations.
The Cayugas sell an unlimited number of tax-free cigarettes at their combination gas stations and stores in Union Springs and Seneca Falls. The Onondaga and Oneida Indians also sell tax-free cigarettes in Central New York.
Last week Cayuga County Legislator George Fearon, R-Springport, said the regulations are needed to “level the playing field’’ for non-Indian merchants who have to collect taxes on cigarettes, making them more expensive than those sold by Native Americans. “I’m in total support of this,’’ Fearon said.
A lawyer representing the Cayugas declined comment but Mark Emery, an Oneida Indian spokesman, said he doubts the state would be successful in enforcing the proposed regulations. Instead, he continued his nation’s call for a negotiated settlement to the dispute.
“When New York is ready to engage with the Oneida Nation on a government-to-government basis in which the parties respect each other’s interests we’ll be ready to negotiate a final resolution that is fair and legal,’’ Emery said in an e-mail.
At a news conference in Syracuse Thursday, supporters of the proposed regulations said the state is losing as much as $1.6 billion a year in uncollected excise taxes on the sales of Indian cigarettes.
Under the proposed regulations, Indian merchants who peddle cigarettes would be allotted 21 packs per member per quarter. For every three months, the Cayugas would receive 20,100 packs, the Oneidas would get 31,200 and the Onondagas would receive 60,600, under the plan.
The formula is based on census populations and is being considered as a way to force Indian retailers to collect state excise tax on cigarettes sold to non-tribal members. The state can amend the proposed regulations after the public comment period ends.
Residents can express their views to John W. Bartlett, director of regulations, Taxpayer Guidance Division, Department of Taxation and Finance, W.A. Harriman Campus, Building 9, Room 161, Albany, N.Y. 12227 or e-mail at
[email protected].
Source : syracuse.com