The city of Columbus could soon establish a separate “weed fund” to manage its income from the tax on marijuana sales, a new revenue source the City Council welcomes.
Columbus City Auditor Megan N. Kilgore said she conservatively estimates the city will bring in $8 million from marijuana sale tax receipts in the first year that the drug was legalized for recreational use in Ohio. Speaking at a City Council budget hearing on Wednesday, Kilgore said the revenue could be even more.
Columbus City Council will vote at its last meeting of the year on Dec. 16 on an ordinance to establish what Council member Nick Bankston called the “weed fund.” The fund’s actual working title is the “Cannabis Host Community Special Revenue Fund.”
Bankston, chair of the council’s Finance Committee, told The Dispatch that the council plans to keep this revenue out of the general fund, despite the budget being tight this year, so they can use the dollars for equity initiatives. He said they want to acknowledge that the previous criminalization of marijuana contributed to inequities. But the council has not determined what exactly that looks like.
The city only receives tax revenue money from sales in the city, Bankston said.
“If you do partake, whether recreationally or medically, we encourage you to buy within the city limits,” Bankston said during Wednesday’s budget hearing.
The 10% tax collected on marijuana sales goes to the state and 36% of that is supposed to get sent to the municipalities where the sales were made, said Matt Erickson, director of the Council’s Legislative Research Office. He said the city won’t see a dollar of this until around July.
“Buy local. Also, indulge responsibly. But if you are in a municipality that is banning (marijuana), come across to Columbus. We will take your revenue,” Bankston said.
H/T: www.dispatch.com
