2005 Vermont Code - § 1002. — License required; application; fee; issuance

§ 1002. License required; application; fee; issuance

(a) No person shall engage in the retail sale of tobacco products or provide a vending machine for their sale in his or her place of business without a tobacco license obtained from the legislative body of the municipality where the products are to be sold. Tobacco licenses shall expire midnight, April 30, of each year.

(b) The board shall prepare and issue tobacco license forms and applications. These shall be incorporated into the liquor license forms and applications prepared and issued under this title. The licenses issued under this section shall be entitled "LIQUOR LICENSE," "LIQUOR-TOBACCO LICENSE" or "TOBACCO LICENSE," as applicable. The board shall also provide simple instructions for licensees designed to assist them in complying with the provisions of this chapter.

(c) Each tobacco license shall be prominently displayed on the premises identified in the license.

(d) A person applying simultaneously for a tobacco license and a liquor license shall pay only the fee required to obtain the liquor license. A person applying only for a tobacco license shall submit a fee of $10.00 to the legislative body of the municipality for each tobacco license obtained or renewed. The city or town clerk shall retain $5.00 of this fee as an issuance fee and the remainder shall be deposited in the treasury of the municipality.

(e) A person who sells tobacco products without obtaining a tobacco license in violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $200.00 for the first offense and not more than $500.00 for each subsequent offense. The court shall remit from the proceeds of the fine the costs of investigation incurred by a municipality to the municipality, but no more than the costs of the investigation.

(f) On or before the 15th of each month, the city or town clerk shall submit to the board the names, addresses and license numbers of all persons to whom a tobacco license was issued during the previous month. Each year on or before May 15, the city or town clerk shall submit to the board a list of all tobacco licenses that have been renewed for that year. (Added 1991, No. 70, § 2, eff. May 1, 1992; amended 1997, No. 58, § 2.)