Having changed Humboldt County's cannabis business assistance program to help farmers pay back tax debts, the county is tweaking it again due to concerns that focusing on the debts disadvantages those who've paid their taxes. The county's Board of Supervisors revisited the previous decision at its Aug. 26 meeting.
The discussion centered on how to distribute a new round of funding for the Project Trellis Local Equity Program, with a core issue being whether the program should be limited to paying off outstanding Measure S excise tax debts or expanded to support wider business needs.
County staff cautioned that expanding the program's scope would significantly increase the administrative workload and could slow down the distribution of the approximately $657,000 in new state funding. The current version of the program's manual, approved in April, restricts grant funds to covering past-due Measure S and property taxes. But that concerns some in the cannabis community, who argue it unfairly benefits growers who owe taxes and excludes those who have remained compliant.
Ross Gordon of the Humboldt County Growers Alliance recommended that the Board adopt a broader approach. He noted the Local Equity Program's intent to compensate for the social and financial impacts of "the war on drugs" and questioned whether paying tax debts fulfills that goal.
Read more at KYM Kemp
