The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors pumped the brakes on the cannabis business tax—scheduled for an automatic increase—after lengthy input from dissatisfied cannabis business owners.
“At 6 percent, we were able to hire two more people,” Michael Joseph, a local cannabis business operator, told supervisors at the June 24 meeting. “We have intention of hiring three more. With the money that we’re generating, that 2 percent difference is huge to us.”
The supervisors voted 3-0 at the special meeting to freeze the cannabis business tax at 6 percent, holding it back from rising to 8 percent. Fourth District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding and 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold were absent.
The cannabis business tax arrived in unincorporated SLO County in 2018 after voters approved Measure B-18. It started out as a 4 percent levy on all cannabis-related businesses except for testing facilities. Beginning in 2020, it is designed to automatically increase by 2 percent each year every July 1 to a maximum tax rate of 10 percent. The tax reached 8 percent in fiscal year 2022-23 after which the supervisors voted to decrease it to 6 percent for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Read more at
https://www.newtimesslo.com/news/county-supervisors-halt-cannabis-business-tax-increase-15478733
