Oakland voters pass pot tax to boost city coffers

OAKLAND, California – Oakland residents overwhelmingly voted to approve a first-of-its kind tax on medical marijuana sold at the city’s four cannabis dispensaries.

Preliminary election results Tuesday showed the measure passing with 80 per cent of the vote, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.The dispensary tax was one of four measures in a vote-by-mail special election aimed at raising money for the cash-strapped city. All four measures won, but Measure F had the highest level of support.Scheduled to take effect on New Year’s Day, the measure created a special business tax rate for the pot clubs, which now pay the same US$1,20 for every US$1 000 in gross sales applied to all retail businesses. The new rate will be US$18. Oakland’s auditor estimates that based on annual sales of US$17,5 million for the four clubs, it will generate an estimated US$294 000 for city coffers in its first year.Pot club owners, who openly sell pot over the counter under the 1996 state ballot measure that legalised medical marijuana use in California, proposed Measure F as a way to further legitimise their establishments.’It’s good business and good for the community,’ said Richard Lee, who owns the Coffee Shop SR-71 dispensary and Oaksterdam University, a trade school for budding dispensary workers.- Nampa-AP