Council hears staff explanation of proposed 10'cent per milliliter vapor-product tax ordinance

City staff briefed the Mobile City Council on an ordinance (34-047) that would levy a local excise tax and require business licenses for the sale of consumable vapor products within the city's corporate limits. Staff told the council the Alabama Legislature enacted a law requiring a 10'cent-per-milliliter tax on vaping products that takes effect Oct. 1, 2026, and that municipalities may adopt an equal or higher tax and collect the revenue locally if they do so by Oct. 1, 2025.

Scott, a city staff member, explained the rationale for the local ordinance: if the state collects the tax and redistributes it, the city would likely receive a smaller share than if it imposed the tax and administered collection locally. "If municipalities enact their own ordinance to do this, then that must be done on or before 10/01/2025," Scott said. He added the city is proposing to mirror the state's 10'cent rate and not to set a higher rate.

Several council members objected to the timing and late notice to the public. Councilwoman Ronald said she was "very disappointed that this has landed on our desk" at the last minute and criticized the lack of earlier public outreach. She urged more advanced notice to constituents before the council takes action.

Staff noted that as of the prior week only a small number of cities had adopted local ordinances and that municipalities across Alabama were still parsing the law's timing and mechanics. Council members asked for clarification about how the state would distribute revenue if the city did not adopt the ordinance; staff repeated that the statute directs a population-proportion distribution in that case, meaning the city likely would get less than it would by collecting the tax itself.

The transcript records the ordinance being introduced and discussed and quotes staff and council members, but it does not show a final recorded vote on the ordinance within the provided excerpt. The council debated whether to waive rules and adopt by consent, and staff said the change in state law will take effect Oct. 1, 2026 regardless of local action; adopting locally by Oct. 1, 2025 would let the city retain 100% of the levy rather than rely on the state redistribution formula.

Council members asked for more time to inform the public and discussed the possibility that the legislature might amend the state law in the next session. Staff recommended adopting the mirrored 10'cent rate so the city would receive direct revenue if the law survives as written.