{"id":75854,"date":"2024-06-02T05:25:01","date_gmt":"2024-06-02T13:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/06\/02\/another-missouri-judge-approves-stacking-city-and-county-marijuana-taxes\/"},"modified":"2024-06-02T12:45:37","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T20:45:37","slug":"another-missouri-judge-approves-stacking-city-and-county-marijuana-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/06\/02\/another-missouri-judge-approves-stacking-city-and-county-marijuana-taxes\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Missouri Judge Approves Stacking City And County Marijuana Taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Local Government\u2019 includes both the city and the county. As such, both are authorized to impose and collect the tax.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Rudi Keller, Missouri Independent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buchanan County can collect a special marijuana sales tax on dispensaries<\/a> within St. Joseph city limits, a judge ruled Wednesday in the second decision granting counties the right to stack taxes on top of city levies.<\/p>\n

Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg wrote in his two-page ruling that provisions in the recreational marijuana constitutional amendment passed in 2022<\/a> do not limit the taxing power of counties within corporate limits of towns and cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo put it bluntly, the court cannot accept [the] plaintiff\u2019s interpretation of \u2018Local Government\u2019 to prohibit the power of the county to impose such tax within the Saint Joseph city limits,\u201d Kellogg wrote. \u201cThe definition of \u2018Local Government\u2019 includes both the city and the county. As such, both are authorized to impose and collect the tax.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vertical Enterprises, which is licensed for retail sales, cultivation and marijuana product manufacturing in St. Joseph, sued the Buchanan County Collector\u2019s office, the Missouri Department of Revenue and the Buchanan County Clerk\u2019s office to block enforcement of the tax.<\/p>\n

Along with regular sales taxes\u2014which in some locations approach 12 percent\u2014people purchasing marijuana for recreational use also pay a special 6 percent state tax and a local tax of 3 percent if approved by voters.<\/p>\n

The ruling will cost Vertical\u2019s customers about $30,000 a month, said Chris McHugh, CEO of the company. There are two other dispensaries in St. Joseph and he estimated their tax payments would be comparable to his.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsumers should be outraged,\u201d McHugh said. \u201cThey\u2019re paying this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statewide, consumers purchased $1.1 billion worth of marijuana in the first year of recreational use sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is millions and millions of dollars that never, never should be taken from consumers,\u201d McHugh said. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing but an anti-marijuana tax.\u201d<\/p>\n

McHugh said he will appeal Kellogg\u2019s decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MoCann Trade, the industry lobbying organization, said in a statement from Executive Director Andrew Mullins, that excessive taxes on marijuana drive customers into the underground, unregulated market.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince October 1<\/span>, Missouri cannabis customers have been paying roughly $3 million more each month than what the Missouri Constitution requires,\u201d Mullins said.<\/p>\n

Drafters of the amendment legalizing marijuana wanted to prevent stacking, so they used the broad term \u201clocal government\u201d for the entity authorized to impose a tax. To make it apply to both cities and counties, the term was defined as meaning \u201ca village, town, or city\u201d for incorporated areas and counties for unincorporated places.<\/p>\n

But the revenue department, interpreting the new tax law, told local governments that county marijuana taxes may be stacked, making the local tax rate on marijuana purchases 6 percent in places where county and city voters have approved the levy.<\/p>\n

Almost everywhere the tax has been on the ballot, it has passed<\/a>, sometimes with overwhelming majorities as in Unionville in April, where it was backed by 73 percent of voters.<\/p>\n

Regular sales taxes are stacked and consumers pay the 4.225 percent state rate plus the local taxes for counties, cities and special taxing districts.<\/p>\n

A 2023 notice from the department\u2019s Taxation Division stated that the section of the constitution authorizing the tax states that any successful vote is applicable to the \u201cpolitical subdivision\u201d<\/a> where it was enacted.<\/p>\n

The amendment did not define \u201cpolitical subdivision,\u201d the notice stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe distinction between local government and political subdivision is important as voters in the entire county will authorize the additional tax, not just voters in the unincorporated area,\u201d the notice stated. \u201cAnd practically, counties do not otherwise limit the applicability of their sales taxes based on geography.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interpretation generated both the lawsuit in Buchanan County and another in St. Louis County. In a ruling that is being appealed, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Brian May wrote that the interpretation offered by the plaintiff in that case, Robust Missouri 3 LLC, operator of a dispensary in Florissant, could have unintended consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf [Robust\u2019s] interpretation were accepted, then a municipality or city would essentially be given carte blanche to ignore any county ordinance or regulation, including those related to public health and safety wholly unrelated to the taxing issue,\u201d May wrote in the ruling.<\/p>\n

Getting the same result from two courts shows the strength of the argument that the taxes can be stacked, said Steve Hobbs, executive director of the Missouri Association of Counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the very beginning, our position was absolutely that the constitutional amendment left this avenue open,\u201d Hobbs said. \u201cWe\u2019re really satisfied that, you know, our position was proved correct in two places.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trial court decisions aren\u2019t controlling precedent and neither Hobbs nor McHugh said the cases would end at the courts of appeals.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone understands this is going to end up at the [Missouri] Supreme Court,\u201d McHugh said, \u201cso we\u2019ve got to go through the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Missouri Independent.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Biden Finally Acknowledges His Marijuana Pardons Did Not Expunge Records After Repeatedly Claiming They Did<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel<\/a> and Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Another Missouri Judge Approves Stacking City And County Marijuana Taxes<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n
\nRead More: Another Missouri Judge Approves Stacking City And County Marijuana Taxes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201c\u2018Local Government\u2019 includes both the city and the county. As such, both are authorized to impose and collect the tax.\u201d By Rudi Keller, Missouri Independent Buchanan County can collect a special marijuana sales tax on dispensaries within St. Joseph city limits, a judge ruled Wednesday in the second decision grantingContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75854"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75855,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75854\/revisions\/75855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}