SAN DIEGO—Voters on Nov. 8 will decide whether medical and recreational cannabis businesses operating in San Diego County’s unincorporated areas will pay a tax that could be used for government services such as health care, fire safety, and parks.
If passed, Measure A will impose tax rates of 6 percent for retail outlets, 3 percent for distribution, 2 percent for testing, 3 percent—or $10, which can be adjusted for inflation—per canopy square foot for cultivation, and 4 percent for other businesses.
The county tax would not apply to cities that already impose a tax on marijuana businesses.
According to county officials, if the measure passes on a simple majority vote, it would generate anywhere from $3 million to $5.5 million in the general fund to pay for services and infrastructure.
The measure has support from county Supervisors Nathan Fletcher, Terra Lawson-Remer, and Nora Vargas—all Democrats. The San Diego County Democratic Party is also supporting it.
During a June 15 presentation on the ballot issue, Fletcher said the county is “at another step in our progress towards establishing the safe, regulated, and legal cannabis market in the unincorporated areas and I think this is a worthy endeavor.”
Former county Supervisor Dianne Jacob, former La Mesa Councilman Barry Jantz, the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, and the Republican Party of San Diego oppose the measure.
Opponents argue that the measure is problematic because “the unincorporated part of the county gets taxed, but there’s no guarantee that the money is used for the general obligations created in the unincorporated part of the county, and that’s unfair,” Haney Hong, taxpayers association president and CEO, told NBC7.
Since California voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2016, the county Board of Supervisors has moved from various bans toward a proposed cannabis “equity policy.” Fletcher and Vargas say the proposal will help eliminate the black market, and address how anti-drug policies impact low-income and minority communities. When it goes before the board next summer, the cannabis equity proposal will be in the form of an ordinance.
Currently, five marijuana operations are allowed to operate in San Diego County—three in Ramona and one each in unincorporated areas bordering El Cajon and Escondido.
