Tax revenue in Mississippi communities following implementation of smoke-free ordinances: an examination of tourism and economic development tax revenues.

BACKGROUND

There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. More than 60 Mississippi communities have passed smoke-free ordinances in the past six years. Opponents claim that these ordinances harm local businesses.

OBJECTIVE

Mississippi law allows municipalities to place a tourism and economic development (TED) tax on local restaurants and hotels/motels. The objective of this study is to examine the impact of these ordinances on TED tax revenues.

METHODS

This study applies a pre/post quasi-experimental design to compare TED tax revenue before and after implementing ordinances.

RESULTS

Descriptive analyses indicated that inflation-adjusted tax revenues increased during the 12 months following implementation of smoke-free ordinances while there was no change in aggregated control communities. Multivariate fixed-effects analyses found no statistically significant effect of smoke-free ordinances on hospitality tax revenue.

CONCLUSIONS

No evidence was found that smoke-free ordinances have an adverse effect on the local hospitality industry.