[/LEFT][LEFT]One of Christmas' most recognizable symbols apparently needs a PR campaign -- and a new tax to pay for it.
The Obama administration has imposed a 15-cent tax on in order to pay for a new board tasked with promoting the Christmas tree industry.
The new fee and board were announced in the Federal Register on Tuesday, to be effective Wednesday. According to the Agriculture Department announcement, the government will impose a 15-cent charge on "producers and importers" of fresh Christmas trees, provided they sell or import more than 500 trees a year.
[LEFT]The money is not meant to pay down the debt or fund any other program. The Agriculture Department-imposed tax is designed to go back into the new Christmas Tree Promotion Board.
The board, proposed earlier this year, is actually the culmination of a years-long effort by the fresh Christmas tree industry to promote itself, according to the background provided in the Federal Register. The industry has faced increasing competition from producers of artificial trees, but efforts to collect voluntary contributions for a fresh-tree marketing campaign have repeatedly run out of funding. So the government stepped in to mandate a fee to support the promotion board.
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