LAKEPORT >> The Lake County Board of Supervisors approved its first reading of a medical marijuana tax measure at its regular meeting this week.
The measure, which would go before the voters in the November election, eliminates idea of levying per plant and instead proposes an annual tax per square foot of a cultivation site: $1 for outdoor, $2 for mixed-light cultivation site and $3 for an indoor operation. According to Community Development Director Bob Massarelli, this would make regulation and collection a much smoother process.
“It becomes an enforcement problem,” he said. “It’s also easier for the public and the growers to understand.”
Yet coming to a consensus was difficult, as the discussion lasted nearly two hours.
Mainly, community stakeholders and the board were trying to reach a fair compromise between the per plant and the per square foot charge because some growers have operations larger than 10,000 square foot “cultivation” maximum.
For instance, Upper Lake resident John Brosnan claimed he needed more than 20,000 square feet for his operation, which encompasses the total land needed for work and processing beyond the growing area.
“It’s a need to operate a functional farm,” Brosnan said. “If [the square foot] language is going to be there, we need to consider expanding it.”
District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington agreed and wanted to make sure that the definition of the taxable area is correct. Ultimately, this led to a long discussion about the definition of the whole entire area where the operation is conducted.
But eventually, the BOS came to a consensus that the tax should only be limited to where the plants are, with the canopy size not to exceed the previously mentioned square foot threshold.
Meanwhile, the total fenced region for business remains up in the air, District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele said, and may be defined at a later time.
“There’s never going to be a perfect solution,” District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown added. “It’s not going to fit everybody.”
Other changes were made well, like treating nurseries that have medical marijuana plants as taxable cultivation sites. The vote was unanimous, 5-0.
