Commission Recommends Increase on Cigarette Tax

A commission that has spent the better part of a year evaluating Kentucky's tax system recommended a 40-cent increase in the cigarette tax on Monday but no increase in the 6 percent sales tax. Gov. Steve Beshear's Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform also recommended pursuing a constitutional amendment that would allow cities to seek a local-option sales tax for limited periods of time. The local-option sales tax has been requested by city officials for decades as a means to generate revenue for infrastructure improvements, such as new arenas.