COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Some Ohio taxes could rise in 2026 if Gov. Mike DeWine’s budget proposal passes as is, including taxes on cigarettes, marijuana, and sports gambling. 

According to the budget, each of those taxes could increase by roughly 100%. 

The current cigarette tax in Ohio is $1.60 per pack of cigarettes. The proposed increase would add $1.50 making the tax $3.10 per pack. DeWine said that tax alone would pay for his $1,000 child tax credit plans included in the budget – estimated to be $450 million a year. 

Mosa Aldamen’s family has owned a Columbus convenience store for nearly 20 years. He said customers get upset anytime the price of tobacco products goes up. 

“Every month, I would raise maybe $0.10 a pack and they would complain about that; $1.50 and make an even bigger impact,” he said. “It always comes back on us thinking that we get more profit, but really it’s just the companies raising it.” 

Stores like Aldamen’s have already taken a hit in the last year. The City of Columbus passed a flavored tobacco ban that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Many of the shops still have all the flavored tobacco products they are now stuck with because they can’t sell them.  

“You just cross down the street to Westerville and you’re allowed to buy them,” Aldamen said, noting that Westerville does not have a ban on flavored tobacco. 

The flavored tobacco ban is a move the city said it made for health reasons but it is costly to these small businesses who now face a potential tax increase for products they rely on for sales. 

“The flavored tobacco sales went down by about 25%,” Aldamen said. “Customers, a lot of customers, especially because we were out on the border, you cross the street down to us over there. Let’s sell it. You know, here we went down 25%, but I know the other places sales went down as much as 50%.” 

However, one tobacco outlet owner said he does not expect any tax increase to affect his cigarette sales. That store owner, with more than 20 years of experience, has seen prices on cigarettes jump double in a matter of days because of legislation, and it didn’t impact sales. He said that in his experience, nothing will stop smokers from buying cigarettes. 

DeWine’s budget proposal is now being debated and amended in the Ohio Statehouse; he has until the end of June to sign it into law.