Pueblo County could create scholarship program funded by pot taxes
Pueblo County could create the world’s first scholarship program funded by marijuana taxes.
Commissioner Sal Pace is proposing the ballot measure that would help students in Pueblo County attend college using the tax proceeds from legal marijuana.
The ballot measure would create a 5-percent excise tax that would be levied when marijuana is transferred from cultivation to a store. The county has several recreational grow locations but there is not yet a tax on them.
If voters pass the ballot measure, the revenue from that excise tax would fund a scholarship program. Beginning in 2017, graduating seniors from all high school in the city and county who attend a public college or university in Pueblo County would be automatically eligible for scholarships from the fund.
The ballot measure is proposing a five percent excise tax on recreational marijuana grows from Pueblo County and that on an annual basis, no less than 50 percent of the revenue of the excise tax shall be placed in the cash fund for the purpose of providing college scholarships to all high schools in the City and County of Pueblo. During the first year the tax is in effect, 2017, the scholarships would be available to new graduates attending a public college or university in Pueblo County. The program may be expanded in future years depending how on revenue.
In addition to providing scholarships, the remainder of the excise tax revenue will be used on projects to improve the Pueblo community. The identified projects in the measure must be completed before any other expenditures are made from the excise tax revenue.
The named projects included:
• Colorado State Fair Streetscape Refurbishment
• Medical Marijuana Academic Research and Marijuana Impact grant
• Feasibility study to Connect Amtrak’s SW Chief to Pueblo
• Safe Route to Schools: North Mesa, South Mesa and Sage Elementary & Trail Master Plan
• Pueblo Historic Courthouse Dome Refurbishment
• Confluence Park County Outdoor Recreation Pavilion
• U.S. Highway 50 feasibility study
• Arts Center funding for long term planning feasibility studies and development of the atrium between Helen T. White and Buell Children’s Museum
• Replace carts and expand clubhouse at Desert Hawk Golf Course in Pueblo West
• Beulah Elementary School Playground enhancement
• Pueblo Reservoir bike and hiking trail repair, trail sign improvements
• Create Pueblo County Energy Efficiency Department and solar improvements
• Zinno Water District Area Water Supply needs
The Pueblo County Board of County Commissioners plans to vote this Monday, Aug. 31, on placing the proposal on the upcoming November election ballot.
