County tables accepting tobacco money

And... Smoking law revisited The Wayne County Board of Supervisors has not yet accepted an offer of $14 million dollars of tobacco settlement money.

When the Board met Tuesday, on the agenda was a law that would include Wayne County in a lump-sum payment option set up with various other counties. The payment would be about $14 million, as opposed to approximately $21 million if spread out over several years. Most counties are opting for the lump-sum, because the $21 million estimate would depend on cigarette sales and, of course, the tobacco companies' ability to pay in years to come. The $14 million 'buys' the tobacco companies the security and promise that Wayne County will not sue to recoup health care costs for smokers.

The board pulled the law because it states that the money will be used to finance capital projects. Finance Committee Chair Don Colvin (Savannah) said, that because there are 'no projects on the books' the committee had decided to hold off on the law. He said that if the committee can 'come up with some by August,' the board could still meet the September deadline for accepting the money.

No one spoke on the settlement at Tuesday morning's public hearing, but one Newark woman discussed another tobacco issue - the law that the board passed earlier this month which bans smoking in all public places as of January 2001.

Barbara Meeks, of Charlotte St., told the board that 15 supervisors should not make such a decision. That the issue should have been put to the county's 55,000 registered voters. 'You are our public servants,' she told the board. She asked the board to repeal the new law and warned, 'This smoking issue is far from being resolved.'

Meeks requested that her entire statement be entered into the minutes of the meeting. The statement appears in this Friday's print issue on page 4.

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