More than 70% of Missoula County’s voters voted in favor of a polling drive legalizing recreational marijuana sales last year – a number that far exceeded the 56% of nationwide voters who showed their support for the measure.
Now Missoula County commissioners will decide whether to hold a special election asking voters to approve an excise duty of up to 3% on the sale of recreational pot. Elected officials will also decide where the proceeds will go.
“There are a number of uses the proceeds could be put to,” Commissioner Dave Strohmaier told Missoula Current on Tuesday. “There is an element of tax relief that is likely to be embedded in any revenue from a potential marijuana tax.”
If voters agreed to local recreational marijuana taxation, the tax would go into effect 90 days later, raising an estimated $ 716,000 annually. And it wouldn’t be the first time Missoula voters approve a local option tax.
Last year, voters also passed a local option fuel tax of 2 cents that was earmarked for roads and infrastructure. That tax was estimated to raise an estimated $ 1.1 million annually, of which tourists would have contributed roughly half.
But that spring, the legislature lifted the local option fuel tax and Governor Greg Gianforte signed the bill. Missoula County and other lobby groups had pushed for a different outcome, saying the revenue was urgently needed to keep pace with rising infrastructure costs.
Without the local fuel tax, a 3% tax on recreational marijuana could help fill the void. Like the road tax, tourists would also contribute to the financing.
“In the last legislative period we canceled a local option tax for gas, and difficult decisions are ahead of us as to how we maintain our roads and infrastructure,” said Strohmaier. “Aside from the gas tax, which we no longer have, we have to decide how to provide other essential services without raising property taxes any further.”
When the Recreational Marijuana Legalization Act went into effect, it allowed counties where a majority of voters approved the law to take into account the 3% local excise tax. The tax would apply to all existing marijuana dispensaries in the county.
There are currently 48 pharmacies in the county registered with the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, according to Missoula County. Although the county has not officially considered putting excise tax on the ballot, the revenue could be sweeping.
“Missoula County is growing fast and with more people living here we need to expand services further out and to these people,” said Commissioner Josh Slotnick. “The wealth tax that a household pays does not cover the cost of providing services to those households. These costs are shared among all of us, but an additional source of income relieves us all. “
Based on current projections by the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research, a 3% consumption tax would bring in around $ 716,100 annually. Missoula County would keep 50% of the revenue and 45% would go to the City of Missoula.
The remaining 5% would go to the Montana Treasury Department to help meet the cost of administering the tax. The city is expected to ask the county to pass a resolution in support of the tax in the coming weeks.
“The marijuana tax would stop or slow down property tax growth a little,” Slotnick said. “We are a bit reluctant to say that it will go here or there. We don’t know how much money is being raised. Everything is based on projections. We will proceed with caution. “
The county will hold a public hearing on the matter on July 1st. A vote on the decision was scheduled for July 6, but was postponed due to the holiday.