In this county, marijuana retail taxes are doing a lot of good.
The Chaffee County Marijuana Excise Tax Advisory Board (METAB) opened its community grant funding cycle for 2021 on August 23. METAB is an advisory group to the Chaffee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) that provides grants to support non-profit organizations that use excise taxes levied on initial sales or transfers of unprocessed (recreational) marijuana from retail grow facilities in Chaffee County will.
The current momentum for recreational cannabis in Buena Vista could help fund capital improvements and keep tourist money in town. Photo AddWeed / Unsplash
This year, the excise tax and resulting METAB grants are estimated at just under $ 300,000. For 2021, grants of at least $ 1,000 and no more than $ 25,000 will be awarded per successful application.
Organizations eligible for METAB grants include programs supervised by Chaffee County Human Services or Public Health, nonprofit organizations that serve Chaffee County’s youth or provide services in one or more of the following areas: Human Services (including youth services); public health (including mental health); Labor and family housing; and government agencies for regulating and enforcing marijuana and other drugs.
METAB applications are managed through Chaffee County’s online scholarship portal. To register an organization on the portal and access the applications, visit https://www.grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=ccgrants.
Prospective applicants must submit a mandatory pre-application by September 17 at 11:59 p.m. to be eligible for this year’s scholarship cycle. METAB notifies qualified applicants with a request to process the full application on an ongoing basis as soon as preliminary applications are submitted. The submission deadline for the full grant application ends on October 17, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.
Those interested in learning more about the scholarship program or the application system can attend an optional information meeting on Thursday, September 9th at 3:00 p.m. via Zoom at https://www.zoom.us/s/87826603334.
The METAB will submit its funding recommendations to the BOCC at its meeting in December 2021. Commissioners will review and approve the distribution of the 2021 marijuana excise funds before METAB announces the awards.
If you have any questions, please contact METAB administrator Ben Doon at [email protected].
METAB was formed after Chaffee County’s voters agreed to a marijuana excise tax in November 2016. It was ratified by the BOCC in August 2017 with resolution 2017-46.
The County Commissioners appointed a seven-member Marijuana Excise Tax Advisory Board (METAB) to lead the excise-funded grant program.
Further information about METAB can be found at https://www.chaffeecounty.org/Board – METAB.