Toledo mayor pushes plastic bag tax

TOLEDO, Ohio, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- An Ohio mayor is pushing for a 5-cent tax on every plastic bag handed out by a store, arguing the levy would be good for the environment and the budget.

Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner has written the City Council, promising to promote a bag tax, The Blade newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, reported. He cited New York and other cities "aggressively acting to discourage citizens from using disposable shopping bags."

In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed adding 6 cents per bag, 5 cents for the city and a penny for the store. Mark Sobezak, president of the council, said that Finkbeiner has talked about copying New York, although he didn't mention a specific amount in his letter.

Finkbeiner says that the major stores in Toledo, a city with a population of less than 300,000, give out 108 million plastic bags a year. That doesn't count the ones from corner groceries and other stores that end up blocking street drains and bulking up landfills.