The St Louis Federal Reserve Bank has recently published info that shows that smoking bans have a negative effect on sales in drinking/eating establishments and the corresponding collections of sales taxes.
Go to the link below and see what the Fed says. They also provide info specific to Columbia, MO
http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/re/2008/a/pages/smoking-ban.html
The Houston Chronicle picked up the AP (Associated Press) story on this and went a little more in depth about Columbia, MO
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5479007.html
Will be interesting to see how our ban affects sales and taxes here. Will also be interesting to see if the folks who wanted this and the "outsiders" go out more often to compensate for any loss of revenue.
If there is a proven loss of sales and the corresponding taxes, what remedies will the supporters of the ban recommend?
