Title
Receive a presentation from the Monterey County Health Department (MCHD), Tobacco Retail Licensing Program on young adult tobacco purchase survey data, enforcement activities, fines and penalties, and the MCHD strategies to improve the effectiveness of young adult tobacco purchase surveys, and enforcement.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
Receive a presentation from the Monterey County Health Department (MCHD), Tobacco Retail Licensing Program on young adult tobacco purchase survey data, enforcement activities, fines and penalties, and the MCHD strategies to improve the effectiveness of young adult tobacco purchase surveys, and enforcement.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
In May 2012, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance Number 5200 to add Chapter 7.80 to the Monterey County Municipal Code to establish local licensing requirements for tobacco retailers operating in unincorporated Monterey County. The purpose of the ordinance is to further reduce illegal sales of tobacco products to youth and young adults by increasing the frequency of outreach and education to tobacco retailers and enforcement of tobacco laws.
Today, the county and eight cities require tobacco retailers to obtain an annual local tobacco retail license from the MCHD in addition to the state tobacco retail license from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA). The current annual cigarette and tobacco products license fee set by CDTFA is $265, and the license fee set by MCHD is $384.
Since the inception of the Tobacco Retail Licensing (TRL) program in 2012, there has been a 25 percent reduction in tobacco retailers. Program staff speculates that tobacco retailers withdrew from the tobacco market because new local fees were introduced and/or low tobacco product sales revenues did not warrant the cost of the local fee. There are approximately 317 tobacco retailers operating in the nine jurisdictions with a TRL ordi...
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