The city of Los Angeles is considering raising its tobacco retailer permit fee which has been in place less than a year to fund the hiring of more inspectors to crack down on the sale of tobacco products to minors.
City Administrative Officer Bill Fujioka makes the case to increase the fee to $300 from the existing $208 in a November memo to the City Council’s budget and finance committee. He states that more inspections are needed and existing revenue from vendors is $360,000 less than is needed to cover costs.
While any establishment that sells tobacco products must pay the increased fee, it’s expected to hit tobacco products specialty stores the hardest. The original fee has been in place only since January of this year.
For Beverlywood Tobacco Co. owner Some Tasien, this may prove to be the last straw. He’s planning on closing up shop when his lease expires next year. While Tasien says the $92 annual increase may not be a huge burden on his tobacco products business, it’s the cumulative impact of taxes and fees on tobacco that’s taking a toll on his bottom line.
“The city is going to keep coming back again and again, for more fees and taxes, as will the state,” Tasien said. “The fees on tobacco are being pushed up to the point where it’s not worth it for us to do business any more.”
But not all tobacco retailers are so pessimistic about the impact of the increase. The owner of Green House Smoke Shop in Venice, who declined to be identified for this story, said that while he didn’t like the fee, it amounts to about 25 cents per day. “It really isn’t going to impact our bottom line all that much,” he said.
Assuming the budget committee and the full City Council act upon the request in coming weeks, the fee increase would kick in as of January 2008.
Greenhouse Gas Signup
Operators of oil refineries, power plants, cement kilns and other greenhouse gas generators have until Dec. 31 to sign up for the voluntary carbon emission reporting system known as the California Climate Action Registry.
Those that miss this deadline could be subject to more stringent reporting requirements under the recently signed AB 32, the landmark cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
The registry was established in 2000 as a voluntary, non-profit entity where companies can register their emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons. Under AB 32, companies enrolled in the registry that have kept complete and consistent records won’t have to make any major changes in the way they track carbon emissions.
Other companies, though, will face mandatory reporting requirements that have yet to be fully spelled out. It will be up to the state Air Resources Board to draft specific regulations.
To avoid what could be years of uncertainty, business groups such as the California Manufacturers and Technology Association are recommending that their members sign up with the registry before the Dec. 31 deadline. The registry’s Web page is climate-registry.org.
Electronic Records
Another major deadline looms Dec. 1 for public companies and major private companies that generate significant amounts of electronic data.
Under new regulations published in the obscure Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, companies involved in federal litigation will be required to produce relevant e-mails and other electronic data in the pre-trial discovery phase or face court sanctions.
This has far-reaching implications for companies with sizable operations that rely on electronic data storage, especially given what happened to Morgan Stanley in its lawsuit with investor Ron Perelman. In May 2005, a jury ordered the brokerage giant to pay $1.45 billion in damages, in part because it failed to produce relevant e-mails during discovery. That case helped spur the new rules.
“Company officials must understand where their electronic information is stored and make sure that it is easily accessible,” said Michael Gold, partner at L.A. law firm Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP.
Air Rules
The California Air Resources Board will hold initial workshops to begin crafting regulations on architectural coatings and on ozone emissions from indoor air purifiers. For more information on the Dec. 12 and Dec. 13 meetings, log onto arb.ca.gov and click on the “What’s New?” icon.
Meanwhile, on Dec. 6, the South Coast Air Quality Management District will host the final public hearing on the draft clean air plan unveiled two months ago. The hearing will take place at district headquarters in Diamond Bar. For more information, log onto aqmd.gov.news.
Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227, or by e-mail at
[email protected]
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