New Jersey smokers save by crossing to Morrisville

Pennsylvania? A tax haven?

Not when it comes to liquor or gasoline. You'd be hard-pressed to find a New Jersey resident who crossed the river to buy a bottle and then fueled up on the way home.

But cigarettes are another matter.

The dollar-ten difference between cigarette taxes on the east bank and west bank of the Delaware has created a billowing business for smoke shops in Morrisville, a Bucks County borough just across a short, toll-free bridge within sight of the golden dome of the Statehouse in Trenton.

Each day, uncounted hundreds of New Jersey smokers, including government workers, zip across the bridge - with the famed slogan "Trenton makes, the world takes" - to hit the eight tobacco emporiums that cater almost entirely to out-of-staters.

It's illegal, but New Jersey treasury officials say they bother only with smugglers, not ordinary folks buying a couple of cartons for themselves.

"You save a lot of money, and it's just across the bridge," said Susana Hernandez of Trenton, who one day last week stopped to buy Newports at Smoker Place, at the foot of the bridge.

"Truth is, if I'm busy - that's the only time I buy in New Jersey at all," she said. "My sister comes here. My brother-in-law comes here. My fiance smokes cigars, and he comes here."

The cross-border commerce appears to be growing at least in part because of rising taxes in both states. Though New Jersey taxes consistently have been higher, Trenton and Harrisburg repeatedly have raised cigarettes levies in recent years as an easy way to close budget gaps. Smokers have become more bargain-conscious.

Since 2002, the per-pack cigarette tax has jumped from 31 cents to $1.60 in Pennsylvania and from 80 cents to $2.70 in New Jersey.

"The powers that be say, 'If we're going to tax something, let's tax cigarettes because people hate smokers anyway,' " said Jill Kerr of Lumberton, who often buys More cigarettes in Morrisville on her lunch break from work as a secretary at the New Jersey courts in Trenton.

In negotiations leading up to Wednesday's budget passage in Harrisburg, legislators considered a 10-cent hike. But in the end, they rejected the idea.

"I'd still come to Pennsylvania, as long as it's cheaper," said smoker Pamela Hughes, who works for the City of Trenton. "Why not? You save money, and you're only talking about three minutes out of your way."

At Smoker Palace last week, a pack of premium Newports sold for $5.99, including sales tax. The price was $8.52 at the Rite Aid Pharmacy in downtown Trenton, a difference of $2.53.

Marlboros, another premium brand, sold for $6.08 in Morrisville and $7.84 in Trenton, a difference of $1.76.

The discount brand Pyramid was going for $4.10 in Morrisville and $5.88 in Trenton, a difference of $1.78.

Taxes alone clearly don't account for all of the price difference. Stores and cigarette makers also have a say.

On some days, especially at lunch hour, Bridge Street in Morrisville seems to swarm with cars bearing Jersey plates, said Robert Seward, the borough zoning officer.

That has been especially true since May 24, when Morrisville's other free bridge from Trenton - on Calhoun Street - closed for repairs.

"Just in the last year alone, I bet three [shops] popped up," Seward said. "I have them right across from each other. It just boggles my mind how they all stay in business, but there must be more smokers out there than I thought."

The shops are making money on the traffic, but Morrisville is not, Seward said. The borough cannot tax cigarettes, and it has no business-profits tax.

Even the federal government collects a dollar-a-pack tax.

The Tax Foundation, a nonprofit group in Washington that tracks taxes state by state, ranks New Jersey's taxes higher in three consumer categories - cigarettes, retail sales, and beer - and Pennsylvania's higher in two - liquor and gasoline.

What a state giveth with one hand, it taketh away with the other.

"You can't have everything," said Eric Ghant of West Trenton, who was shopping at one of two Smokin Joe's stores in Morrisville.

"Me, I just like coming to Pennsylvania."