Cannabis growers came out in full force to the Monterey County Cannabis Committee on May 7 with one message: cut the county’s cannabis tax or the industry could go up in smoke.
Many were back on May 22 before the Board of Supervisors to make the plea yet again to cut the tax rate as low as possible, in order to be competitive with other counties with rates lower than Monterey County’s current $15-per-square-foot of canopy.
This time they had stiff competition from the Monterey County Sheriff's Office and both District Attorney Dean Flippo and Assistant DA Jeannine Pacioni. (Pacioni is on the June 5 ballot as the lone candidate to replace Flippo, who is retiring.)
They argued the tax rate needed to stay high in order to cover the cost of law enforcement to eradicate black market growers who could undercut legal operations.
Supervisors were split on the decision 3-2, but the new rate as of July 1 will be significantly lower: $5 per square foot for greenhouse cannabis grows and $8 per square foot for indoor grows.
“This is a win-win to the county, jobs and our cannabis businesses who have invested here,” Board Chair Luis Alejo says. “It’s a fast-changing market and we have to make necessary adjustments.”
He also says increases in the tax rate will come in the future, if the industry is successful in the next few years.
“I want our story to be in two or three years that we made the right decisions and that we continue to be a cannabis success story in the state."