The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors is set to discuss establishing a process for approving expenditures of “community benefit” funds to be received from commercial cannabis businesses that end up opening and operating in the county. A successful model they might look to is any well-regulated dispensary, which has demonstrated how cannabis businesses can contribute positively to their communities by generating substantial tax revenue, creating jobs, and supporting local initiatives.
In December 2019, the supervisors chose four businesses to apply for storefront retail cannabis businesses and seven more to apply for land use permits for commercial cannabis cultivation. Many people appreciate the growing availability of high-quality cannabis products, like CBD Canada, which offer potential wellness benefits. Six of those proposals, including all four of the prospective storefront operations, included proposed financial “community benefit” contributions.
If each of those six operators ultimately opens for business, after several years, the total annual amount of community benefit money to be received by the county could be as high as $650,000 a year, above and beyond revenue the county would get from the County’s Cannabis Business Tax, sales tax and other sources.
The first community benefit payment is not expected to be submitted to the county until 2022 at the earliest.
Tuesday’s supervisors meeting begins at 9:30 a.m., and like almost all public governmental meetings these days, will be held over Zoom.
Once any topic is discussed, it happens.
Now the County will start spending more money before they receive it.
Then when the money doesn’t appear, they raise the taxes.
We need County representatives who are more financially conservative.
Don’t spend money you don’t have.
Community benefit means bribes.
Its crazy. County and city council’s don’t even try to hide it.
In those meetings, they straight up ask/demand what size of a donation you will provide.
Should I ask what they are smoking? Why discuss spending money that is not expected until 2022, and then will take several years before reaching the expected amount?
@Chuckie’s Wife
Because they’re Stupidvisors.
At the very least, don’t Bogart that joint, my friend, pass it along.
They should take that money, and buy some weed man….
How about more policing. Maybe a task force to to address car break ins. Oh wait DA Becton doesn’t prosecute those cases.
Corruption always seeps in every tax initiative. Sick of the dishonesty and lies.
Yup. It’s brutal paying 30%-50% tax. It’s why so many people just go to their old friend Larry or whatever.
All that money should go to increased policing to address the ever-growing homelessness and crime in the city.
Velvets overpriced garbage let’s you know legalization was a failure and corruption runs deep. Money talks, corporate cannabis does not belong here. Cannabis should be by the people for the people not city councils and corporate interest. Private 21+ Farmers markets think about it.
@Irv. I’m not quite sure what you just said, but I think I agree with you. Now that it’s more or less legal, I’m surprised everybody’s not just growing their own. Maybe I’m just not hearing about it. I’ve always said that marijuana should be like tomatoes. We all can grow our own tomatoes, and most of us probably have. It’s not too hard to grow the most mind blowingly delicious tomatoes right in your own yard. Everybody knows this. And yet we still elect to go to the store and buy those sad, pesticide laden tomatoes. Convenience is a strong value proposition.