Pueblo County will ask voters to raise sales tax on pot
The marijuana industry in Pueblo could be in for a change soon as Pueblo County Commissioners have agreed to ask voters for help in raising the county’s sales tax on recreational marijuana by two percent.
Wednesday, commissioner voted unanimously to place a measure on the November ballots asking for a sales tax increase from 3.5% to 5.5%.
County officials say this increase is in response to changes made to the marijuana excise tax in the state of Colorado.
“As we tweak these numbers, it’s going to affect all of the marijuana businesses,” said Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace, a staunch marijuana supporter in the county.
Despite this, Pace is in favor of a sales tax increase.
Commissioners say one-third of the funds generated from the sales tax increase would go to a scholarship fund for public schools, which was in serious danger after changes to the state’s excise tax on marijuana.
The remaining two-thirds will go into the general fund. County officials say they want to be transparent with those remaining funds.
“All dollars must be accounted for out of the marijuana funds that come in,” said Pace. “They must be spent on specifically identified projects.”
Commissioners say they received a large amount of feedback from the local industry.
Dispensary owners, including Richard Kwesell, were at Wednesday’s commissioner’s meeting and several took to the podium to voice their support of the proposed ballot measure. Kwesell would not speak with us on or off camera after addressing the commissioners.
When asked if the entire local marijuana business is in support of this ballot measure, Pace said there were disagreements.
“There are parts of this ballot measure that the marijuana industry completely supports, there are parts of this that some support, and there are parts that some of the industry do not support,” Pace said.
Jim Parco, owner of Mesa Organics and a business professor at Colorado College, says his dispensary has been doing great as of late. He is worried if this sales tax increase passes it could stall his growth.
“When it comes to tax policy, it’s always a tricky business,” said Parco. “Right now we are looking at an 18% excise tax and about 20% sales tax. Increases are going to really start hurting businesses.”
Parco says he is committed to the scholarship program. However, with the federal income, excise, and sales tax already weighing down the local pot business, two more percent could have a serious impact. That’s why Parco says cooperation between the businesses and county must continue.
“We are all on the same side here,” said Parco. “We are all trying to get this right, therefore it is a collective effort.”
Commissioners say they really worked hard on this ballot measure for the past couple of weeks. They were racing against the clock because the deadline to add the question to the November ballots was this week.
