Background: On July 1, 2003, the city of Pueblo CO enacted a smokefree ordinance (Pueblo
Smoke-Free Air Act [PSFAA]) that prohibited smoking in...
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Background: On July 1, 2003, the city of Pueblo CO enacted a smokefree ordinance (Pueblo
Smoke-Free Air Act [PSFAA]) that prohibited smoking in public places and workplaces, including
taverns and restaurants. Opponents to this ordinance argued that it would have a negative impact on
tavern and restaurant sales.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the PSFAA had a negative economic
impact on tavern and restaurant sales tax revenues.
Methods: With data gathered in 2007, this study implemented an interrupted time-series model in
2008, using 42 months of pre- and post-intervention sales tax revenue data for Pueblo to determine
whether implementation of this ordinance had an effect on tavern and restaurant sales tax revenues.
Ratios of tavern and restaurant openings to closings were also computed for the pre- and postintervention
periods.
Results: Pre–post sales tax revenue data showed slight losses in sales tax revenue for taverns, and
gains for restaurants, which more than offset the tavern losses. After adjusting for the consumer price
index, the city of Pueblo experienced a 20.3% gain in combined tavern and restaurant sales tax
revenues from the pre-ordinance period to the post-ordinance period. The ratio of tavern openings
to closings improved from 1:1 pre-period to 3.3:1 post-period and the restaurant ratio remained
unchanged at approximately 1.78:1 from pre- to post-period.
Conclusions: There is no evidence that the PSFAA had a negative economic impact on consumer
price index–adjusted tavern and restaurant sales tax revenues. From a fıscal policy perspective, this
ordinance may have contributed to a net increase in sales tax revenues for the city of Pueblo. The
business openings/closings data suggest that the confıdence Pueblo’s business sector had in the local
hospitality industry was not negatively influenced by the PSFAA.
