Hundreds of farmers in Humboldt County owe cannabis cultivation taxes. The county decided what to do about an approaching deadline for those growers to either pay or lose their licenses.
When Humboldt County voters approved the Measure S Cannabis Excise Tax in 2016, which charges businesses between $1 and $3 per square foot of cultivation area, the marijuana market looked a lot different. Since then, prices for cannabis have plummeted due to high supply. And optimism among small-plot farmers thinking they could make a profit has given way to worry about just staying afloat.
"Measure S was originally envisioned as a tax that would come out of the bounty that would be associated with legal cannabis. That is not the current circumstance and is unlikely to ever become the situation," according to a March 25 staff report by the county's Planning and Building Department.
Humboldt County's board of supervisors is aware of the change in market conditions. For the last four years, the county has either suspended or greatly reduced the tax. But according to the county, around 600 growers still owe taxes — about a third of legal operations.
Read more at JPR