Monterey County discusses marijuana tax revenue distribution

With a new businesses comes new costs, and marijuana companies are sprouting all over Monterey County. The government is figuring out how to regulate the freshly legalized industry, with departments requesting money to fund newly needed positions.

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors said at Tuesday’s meeting, these groups requested more than 10 million dollars, but with a roughly equal amount of total revenue from marijuana taxes, that number had to be brought down.

The board’s marijuana committee brought forward their report, offering the departments approximately 3.5 million dollars.

“(With a) projected budget deficit of 36 million (dollars), that’s one of the things we’re going to have to do to scale back and say ‘what departments can we have savings. Where can we take a
hit’,” John Phillips, with the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, said.

Most of the public comment at Tuesday’s meeting surrounding public health issues, with outreach and youth education.

The Monterey County Health Department wants funding to study “the health impact of
legalized cannabis in particular on vulnerable populations,” Monterey County Health Officer, Dr. Edward Moreno, said.

Despite slight reductions to their share of the revenue, Tuesday, the Health Department is still slated to receive the most money, at more than $800,000. They plan to collect data and share it with “healthcare providers, hospitals, and our educators in the school districts, in order to adequately understand the impact and address the impact,” Dr. Moreno said.

The Board of Supervisors recommended the funding rollback as a temporary measure, putting more initial dollars into law enforcement and certification.

“Some of those resources aren’t going to be needed in the long-run, and that’s where we’ll put the
money in the health department,” Phillips said.

The money for law enforcement surrounds getting marijuana off of the black market, which should bring in more taxable dollars if people buy cannabis at legal, certified businesses.

They also mentioned changing the current tax rates for the cannabis industry. They said they will discuss that again in May.