KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- The Pop B Bus Tour made a stop in Kirksville early Friday morning to not only help drum up support, but also to help educate the public about the measure that will appear on the November Ballot.
Proposition B would increase the tobacco tax in the state of Missouri by .73 cents.
Missouri has the lowest tobacco sales tax in the country, currently at .17 cents per pack.
If this measure passes in November, it would help generate $283 million dollars in revenue.
Eighty percent of that would be dedicated to Missouri’s public schools, colleges and universities.
“The first benefit would be that Kirksville public schools would receive $401,000 per year in new money to help provide a relief in their public school system,” said spokesperson Misty Snodgrass. “Truman State University would receive $3.9 million dollars per year in revenue due to this measure. So there's the revenue side, but there's also the health side. This measure saves lives and helps kids from ever starting to smoke.”
The Measure was brought up before voters twice, once in 2002 and again in 2006.
According to a recent study done by an economist at University of Missouri-Columbia, despite what proponents of Prop B say, it would negatively impact all taxpayers and not just smokers.
Adair County is expected to lose $27,672 just in annual sale tax revenue. The city of Kirksville could also see a loss of $13,430 in local cigarette excise taxes.
The measure will go before voters on November 6th.
To learn more about the campaign supporting Prop B, CLICK HERE.
To learn more about the campaign against Prop B, CLICK HERE.
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