Wisconsin's tribes stand to gain another $81.5 million over the next to years if the state increases its tobacco tax, The Madison State Journal reports.

Eleven tribes signed compacts to collect the state's tax on the tobacco products they sell. The tribes get a refund on 70 percent of the sales to non-members.

“In order to work cooperatively with the state, the tribes reached an agreement on ... the refund as both an incentive for tribes to collect the tax for the state and as a mechanism for the state to collect tax revenues it might otherwise not be able to obtain,” Ho-Chunk Nation spokesperson Anne Thundercloud told the paper.

Non-Indian retailers say the tribes shouldn't get a refund. “We’ve felt that this has been extremely unfair,” said Brandon Scholz, the president of the Wisconsin Grocers Association.

The tax could be raised by 75 cents per pack.

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Cigarette tax increase could be windfall for Wisconsin's tribes (The Madison State Journal 5/27)