After months of controversy, Pima County decided Tuesday not to ban hiring smokers. But the county board of supervisors has voted to add 30 percent surcharge to smokers’ health premiums. However, that can be avoided if an employee completes a smoker cessation program.

Allyn Bulzomi is the director of human resources for the county and he also worked on the proposed ban. He said that thousands of businesses and a handful of cities already ban the hiring of smokers. But he said that some opponents to this proposal argued it was unfair to people who may want to quit, but simply can’t.

"I've got to be honest with you, I smoked for a long time. I haven’t smoked for 15 years," Bulzomi said. "So I have very little compassion for that, because I know how difficult it is to quit and I thought I would never be able to quit and I did."

About a third of Pima County’s employees smoke. Bulzomi estimates a ban could have saved the county a minimum of $3 million a year in health-care costs.