A Taxing Time : Finances: Consumers react with indignation to the state’s new and increased sales levies. Some merchants say they’re confused.

It was in the parking lot of a mini-mart in Ventura that 15-year-old Heather Flemmings felt the impact of the state’s budget woes.

In one hand, the red-haired teen-ager held a couple of packs of gum balls and a fruit-flavored candy stick. In the other she held the change from her purchase.

After examining both, Flemmings realized that a new state sales tax on candy that took effect Monday increased the cost of her sweets by about 5 cents, to 70 cents.

It’s not much by most standards, but for Heather, it’s the principle that mattered.

“I think this is stupid,” she said as she counted her change. “I don’t think they should tax junk food, because a lot of people buy it.”

Such indignation was common among Ventura County residents and merchants who woke up Monday to face the harsh reality of a broad array of new or higher taxes imposed to help erase the state’s projected $14.3-billion deficit.

As part of the plan put together by Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature, sales taxes were increased statewide by 1.25%. The plan raised Ventura County’s 6% sales tax to 7.25%.

And for the first time, the higher levy was charged on a variety of previously untaxed goods, such as candy, snack foods, newspapers, periodicals and bottled water.

In Ventura County, the increased levies were denounced by consumers as unfair and criticized by merchants as downright confusing.

At the Standing Room Only Bakery in Ventura, Joan Dodge, who described herself as a Ventura Democrat, decried the new tax on snacks as another example of the government putting it to the “little guy.”

“Who gets screwed by this increase?” Dodge asked. “Every time, it’s the little guy.”

Despite her distaste for increased taxes, Dodge ordered a bag of cookies, which increased in price by about 5 cents under the new snack tax.

“Anybody who eats a cookie is driven by a craving, not by a tax,” she said, as she paid for her cookies.

Another regular at the tiny bakery on Main Street was more philosophical about the snack tax. “I think it’s insignificant in the whole scheme of things,” said the man, who declined to give his name.

At mini-markets, where snack foods and candies make up the bulk of the sales, merchants said they were still unclear about which items were exempt from the new taxes and which were not.

Mike Kring, a clerk at the Mobil Mini-Mart on Main Street in Ventura, said he never received an explanation from the state. “It’s the pits,” he said.

For example, is ice cream considered a snack? he asked.

Because the state has yet to provide an exact definition of a snack, he said his store will charge a tax on ice cream--at least until he’s told otherwise.

“We are not really sure on this,” he said. “No one has given us any guidelines.”

In addition, Kring said it cost his store about $75 to reprogram the cash register to charge the new 7.25% sales tax. Other merchants said the increase forced them to buy new cash registers.

Dorothy Jue Lee, a manager at Jue’s Market in Ventura, said the state sent the store a three-page explanation for the snack tax.

But Lee said the state’s explanation does not say why crackers with cheese in the middle are considered a snack, and regular saltine crackers without cheese are not.

“It doesn’t get into all of those subjects,” she said.

At auto dealerships, several salespeople said business increased slightly during the weekend before the higher sales tax took effect.

Fred Bishop, a salesman at Ventura Toyota, said foot traffic in his showroom increased about 25% during the few days before the tax increase took effect.

New cars at Ventura Toyota range in price from $6,000 to $30,000, he said. The 1.25% sales tax increase would mean additional sales tax ranging from $75 to $375 per car.

Bishop said he was able to use the tax increase as an incentive to get at least three buyers to take cars home last weekend. But he said that ploy was only marginally successful.

“For two buyers, the color of the car was still more important than the tax thing,” Bishop said.

As of Monday, the state also increased the price of alcohol by about 9 cents for a six-pack of beer, 4 cents on a bottle of wine and 26 cents on a fifth of hard liquor.

Taxing Your Snack

Under legislation that became effective Monday, snack foods-such as cookies, potato chips, corn chips, pretzels and popped popcorn-lost their exemption from taxation. Retailers are now required to charge sales tax on these snacks, but not on many similar foods. Here is a look at some of the distinctions.

NOW TAXED All forms of candy Rice cakes Cupcakes Twinkies Granola bars Screaming Yellow Zonkers Cracker Jack Fig Newtons Ritz crackers Carnation breakfast bars Pringles chips Cheese puffs Doritos Cheez-It crackers Ding Dongs

REMAINING EXEMPT Baking chocolate Baking confections Glazed fruit sold for baking (but not when sold as candy) Cereals Muffins Doughnuts, pastry sold as bakery products Slice of pie purchased from a deli (but not as prepackaged snack) Saltine crackers Nuts Seeds Dried fruit SOURCE: State Board of Equalization