One of the more classic episodes in the animated series “The Simpsons” finds Homer stuck in a hole with several of his fellow Springfield citizens. When Homer proposes “we’ll dig our way out!” the police chief upbraids him for such a silly suggestion by telling him to “dig up” instead.

Officials in Albany must have been watching a lot of “The Simpsons” when they came up with the latest scheme for escaping the state’s $9 billion budget hole. Not only do they fail to stop digging deeper into unfunded liabilities, they seem to think that “digging up” by raising even more taxes will give them an exit. It’s a shame to disappoint them, but pssst … cartoons aren’t for real.

For weeks, Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature have been negotiating on a new state budget, which is now more than two months late. However, most of their “fixes” constitute minor spending cuts, delays in scheduled salary increases for state workers and payments to contractors and transfers from various state accounts. The governor and legislative leadership have also proposed a number of tax increases, including tax hikes on personal income, soft drinks and tobacco products.

On Monday, the Legislature passed one of these proposals, a $440 million tobacco tax hike. This will boost New York’s cigarette tax rate — currently the fourth-highest rate — to No. 1, making a pack of cigarettes approximately $10. So is this reason for a rousing “Woo-Hoo!” on the part of anti-smoking advocates and policymakers? Not so fast, Homer.

For one, Tax Foundation research shows that cigarette taxes are unreliable sources of revenue. By raising the cigarette tax rate, the cost of cigarettes rises while the number of purchases declines as people go across state lines to buy cigarettes. Since Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Pennsylvania have lower taxes, New York could likely see the revenues it plans to devour run away instead…

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