Mobile City Council passes vape tax ordinance

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Mobile City Council has passed an ordinance that could bring more money to the city through a new state tax on vaping products.

A bill passed in the state legislature this year put a statewide 10-cent-per-milliliter charge on vaping products. Cities and towns across the state had to vote on whether to collect the tax for themselves or allow the state to take the money and disburse it.

Mobile Finance Director Scott Collins said the tax won’t go into effect until October 2026. He also said it’s too early to tell how much money this would bring in.

“We’re hoping that the local businesses who sell will allow us to go back and identify what those taxes are,” Collins said. “The privilege that the city has with this is that we can go back and rescind any ordinance that’s passed. So, if we learn over the next year that there’s double taxation, there’s something unfair to the resident or local business, the city can go back and undo this if it chooses to do so.”

Collins said he expects some money to come in from the tax, but he doesn’t think this will be a large revenue generator.