Enough smokers for school funding

Despite Philadelphians smoking less, they are still smoking enough to help fund city schools.

As the 2015 fiscal year wrapped up Tuesday, state, city and school district officials were confident they would get the $49 million they were expecting from the new $2-per-pack cigarette tax.

Philadelphia's $2-per-pack cigarette tax took effect last October as a way to help plug a $71 million deficit this past year and continue providing much needed money for the schools in future years.

The state House Appropriations Committee suggested the annual smoking revenues could reach between $70 million to $90 million. But the school district itself went with a more conservative figure for their budget: $60 million. Probably a wise move.

The state collected $45.4 million in Philadelphia cigarette tax revenue through the end of May, of which nearly $700,000 is being kept by the state for administration costs and the rest has been turned over to the school district, Elizabeth Brassell, spokeswoman for the state Revenue Department said.

The school district expects it will ultimately receive $49.5 million for fiscal year 2015. The official 2015 fiscal year numbers won't be ready until a week or two, Brassell said.

The breakdown of the first eight months of the tax shows an average $5.6 million monthly revenue.

"We have been looking at the numbers and ... Are being more conservative," said Fernando Gallard, the school district's spokesman, adding that school officials passed a $2.8 billion budget Tuesday that reflects a $60 million cigarette tax line for the 2016 fiscal year.

Some city officials had expected the cigarette tax would generate about $80 million.

City Controller Alan Butkovitz sent a letter to state Revenue Secretary Eileen McNulty on Wednesday, cautioning that given the monthly average, the School District would not receive "the anticipated $80 million." He also asked for a detail breakdown of the cigarette tax administrative costs.

The administrative costs are mostly for staff salaries and benefits but also new cigarette tax stamps and travel expenses.

Here is the breakdown the state Revenue Department provided for costs between October through end of May:

Salaries and Benefits: $622,159.04
Travel: $13,186.71
Telecommunications: $60.50
Office Supplies: $5,859.28
Cigarette Tax Stamp - Printing: $29,014.48
Computer Equipment: $12,984.00
Software: $1,224.00
Miscellaneous: $1,223.41

Total: $685,711.42

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