First in series of cannabis tax community forums kicks off

California’s cannabis business is expected to generate billions. Friday community leaders met to talk about ways of spending some of that excess revenue from taxes.

Some tax revenue from the industry is already going to specific parts of the county budget but there may be even more.

Friday the county asked what the community wants to do with it.

With a voter approved tax on legal cannabis passed nearly two years ago, it’s time for Monterey County to start thinking about what to do with the money.

“Every district is taking the opportunity to have a community forum to asses what their residents feel and want the new revenue stream of cannabis tax, how they want it to be used,” Adams said.

Friday’s forum divided people into groups to come up with ideas.

“Housing and immigration safety around Monterey County and more or less of us people are on the same page,” said Monterey County resident Adriana De Peña.

County supervisor Mary Adams says it’s not just future programs that the excess tax can help fund on the Central Coast.

“This is a very tight budget year for Monterey County so what we’ll be able to do is capture not just what people want to see but also what they want to ensure remains in place,” Adams said.

Four other forums are also being held to continue the conversation and county leaders hope the ideas can soon be put into action.

“[The ideas] to be synthesized by the consultant that we have working with us and it will be presented to the board so that the public will see what the general ideas were,” Adams said.

A link to an online survey and information on the upcoming meetings can be found here.