COMMENTARY and reporting by Bruce Checefsky
The Fumble occurred during the 1987 AFC Championship Game between the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos on January 17, 1988, at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. On second down at the Denver eight-yard line, with the Browns needing five yards for a first down, Kosar handed the ball off to Ernest Byner on a trap play. Byner saw a chance to score the tying touchdown. The only two defenders between him and the end zone were Broncos defensive backs, Jeremiah Castille and Tony Lilly.
Byner fumbled at the three-yard line with 65 seconds left in the game. Castille recovered, giving the Broncos possession of the ball and preserving the seven-point edge. After the Browns got the ball near the end of the game, Kosar threw a Hail Mary pass that came up short, and the Broncos won, 38–33, and moved on to Super Bowl XXII.
The Shot, The Fumble, The Drive, and Red Right 88 are among the most painful moments in Cleveland sports history.Arts funding in Cuyahoga County hit another snag last month when the Ohio Senate budget, passed by Gov. DeWine, rolled back a recent state law designed to raise more money from the current cigarette tax. Senate Bill 164, signed into law earlier this year, allowed the county to ask voters to tax 9% of the wholesale price of cigarettes and expand the tax to nicotine vape products not currently taxed by the county for up to 10 years. However, the state budget passed in July now allows the county only to ask voters to increase the fixed-rate tax.
Ohio has levied an excise tax on cigarettes since 1931. The current rate, $1.25 per pack, was set by the Ohio General Assembly effective July 1, 2005. The tax is paid primarily by wholesale dealers with the purchase of stamps (tax indicia) attached to packs of cigarettes. Someone dropped the ball. Collecting the funds for vape products does not exist. Vape products have no tax stamps. Vaping products can be taxed, either per ounce of vaping liquid or as a percentage of the price, depending on the product and the state.
“The Ohio Department of Taxation could not accurately tax vape products according to the bill as written,” said Senate Finance Chair Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) in a phone conversation with CoolCleveland. “The locals [in Cuyahoga County] drove this, and you have to ask them why it would not work.”
Dolan said the vape tax is no longer a viable option. The Cuyahoga County Council has to decide how to proceed if they want to put it on the ballot for a vote, which means a new cigarette tax or roll over of the existing tax. Sources close to the process say the Legislature will remove the cap on the amount of tax levied, which currently stands at up to 1.5 cents per cigarette (30 cents per pack of 20 cigarettes), to fund a regional arts and cultural district, making way for more expensive cigarettes and additional income for Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. It is unclear whether county residents will favor an increase, or if they do, the money collected will reach 2008 or 2015 funding levels for CAC.
District of Columbia has the highest cigarette tax at $5.02 for a pack of 20. New York and Connecticut tied for second at $4.35/20-pack. Ohio ranks 29th at $1.60 per pack.
Ideastream took on the issue in a recent Sound of Ideas program. Chairman of the board for Assembly for the Arts, Fred Bidwell, was there, along with Jeremey Johnson, President and CEO of Assembly for the Arts, and Jill Paulsen, executive director of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
“We are very happy with the way the situation worked out. This issue was a technical one. We had hoped to tax a broader array of tobacco-related products, but there was a technical issue in the way to collect the taxes,” said Bidwell. “I won’t get into the ugly details.”
Paulsen said tobacco cessation is a positive outcome of taxing cigarettes. For her, the silver lining is helping with health benefits and using the dollars for improving life, education, and jobs.
“We can drive down tobacco rate and usage through tax policy,” she said.
According to the American Lung Association, every ten percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces consumption by about four percent among adults and about seven percent among youth. As tax rates increase or products are banned, many consumers and producers search for ways around these penalties and restrictions. Higher cigarette taxes have a disproportionate impact on poor consumers.
As an aside, my 92-year mother smoked most of her life and still does. Raising the price of cigarettes is not going to stop her from smoking. I understand the difference between her addiction and keeping young
people away from tobacco.
In 2006, voters approved a 30-cent tax on packs of cigarettes to support the arts. Issue 8, which renewed the 30-cent-a-pack cigarette tax to support arts and culture in 2015, passed by a 75.2 percent margin. The current county tobacco tax will expire in 2027.
Paulsen said declining cigarette sales have led to a 40% drop in revenues since the tax passed in 2006.
“Our mission at the Assembly for the Arts is to increase access and provide equity about expanding the pie of resources for this arts economy, and also to increase equity within that,” said Johnson.
“As a city and region that thrives on arts and culture, we want to be certain it mirrors Cuyahoga County residents.”
Assembly for the Arts is putting together a team to work with the community about changes and expansion in the cigarette tax and whether to support it or not on the ballot, according to Bidwell, to listen and get feedback.
Earlier this year, CAC approved $20,000 for Assembly for the Arts to hold listening sessions, a proposal meant to be a unifying force for the creative economy, before the rollback of SB164. But to date, no meetings have been organized or taken place.
While the Browns overcame a 21-3 deficit to tie the game at 31 in the fourth quarter, the Fumble prevented the Browns from reaching its first Super Bowl. Then-head coach Marty Schottenheimer said the Browns were still in the game at that point and, unfortunately, were overshadowed by a single draw play from the eight-yard line.
Photo of Mrs. C by Bruce Checefsky
Bruce Checefsky is a filmmaker and photographer, and published writer. He is the recipient of three Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards, a Creative Workforce Fellowship, and four CEC ArtsLink Fellowships.