New Jersey loses out on tax revenue as residents like Reggie Noble, the rapper known as Redman, buy fireworks in Pennsylvania.
By ANDREW MARTIN
Published: July 2, 2011
The Fourth of July promises to be more explosive than ever this year in cities and counties where fireworks had been banned for decades.
Colorful pyrotechnics with names like “Untamed Retribution” and “Rain Fire” will paint the skies above backyards and beaches as consumers find it easier to buy fireworks and elected officials try to reap the benefits.
Desperate to find any source of untapped revenue, many cities, counties and states are scrapping decades-old restrictions on firework sales, trying to rescue budgets battered by several years of economic doldrums.
A 65-year-old ban on fireworks in Hawkins County, Tenn., was lifted in May after a county commissioner persuaded colleagues that the sales could generate as much as $200,000 in annual permit fees and sales tax revenue.
“Every penny helps,” said Shane Bailey, the county commissioner.
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