Monterey >> With one successful medical marijuana dispensary and a manufacturing plant in Monterey County, along with the prospect of voter approval for recreational use of the drug come Nov. 8, five cities in the county will have either a cannabis business tax or commercial cannabis tax measure on the ballot in anticipation of new marijuana-based businesses taking root.
It is a turnabout by many in the last year or two after Del Rey Oaks opened its borders to a dispensary and a cannabis product manufacturing plant opened in Salinas.
The cities of Del Rey Oaks and Greenfield will have cannabis business tax measures on the ballot, while King City, Gonzales and Salinas will have commercial cannabis tax measures, each requiring a majority of the vote for approval.
Measure A in Del Rey Oaks is anticipated to generate $250,000 “to protect the quality of life” and to fund essential city services such as police and fire, programs and infrastructure. If passed, it would impose a tax of not more than 10 percent — 5 percent when enacted — on gross receipts of cannabis businesses.
Measure O in Greenfield is estimated to generate $2 million annually. If passed, it will impose a cultivation tax not to exceed $25 per square foot on cultivation, dispensaries, deliveries, distribution, manufacturing, nurseries, testing and transportation of medical and nonmedical marijuana and all other cannabis activities taxed at a rate not to exceed 10 percent.
Measure J in King City is estimated to generate $1 million to $2 million annually for city services by taxing medical and nonmedical marijuana businesses $25 per square foot for the first 5,000 square feet and $10 per square foot thereafter for cultivation; not to exceed $5 per square foot for nurseries; $30,000 each for manufacturing and testing facilities.
Measure W in Gonzales is anticipated to generate $1.36 million in revenue by imposing a cultivation tax not to exceed $25 per square foot, and a manufacturing tax not to exceed 15 percent of annual gross receipts.
has the potential to generate $1 million to $2 million annually to help fund city services by imposing a tax on medical and nonmedical cannabis businesses with a tax on cultivation activities not to exceed $25 per square foot and a tax on dispensaries, manufacturing and delivery not to exceed 10 percent of annual gross receipts.
Each of the five cannabis measures contain no sunset clause and can be adjusted based on the consumer price index at varying times.
