Voters across Jefferson County will decide next spring whether the county may collect a 3-cent sales tax on the sale of recreational marijuana.
The County Council voted 6-0 on Dec. 11 to place the issue on the April 2 ballot.
The council has considered the idea since statewide voters approved a measure in November 2022 allowing “adult use” marijuana sales to people 21 and older. In February, facilities with licenses to sell medical marijuana began selling it for recreational use as well.
As part of that statewide measure, the state has charged a 6-cent sales tax on those purchases. Cities and counties may ask their voters to approve an additional 3 cents.
It’s not clear whether the county may impose its tax in addition to those approved by voters in cities, but county officials said they would see how the issue plays out, possibly in court.
In April 2022, voters approved a 3-cent sales tax on recreational marijuana sales in Festus, Herculaneum, Hillsboro and Pevely. Voters in Arnold approved a similar measure in November.
Hillsboro, Pevely and Festus have marijuana dispensaries, and in the unincorporated county, facilities are located in Imperial, High Ridge, House Springs and south of Festus.
The state charges a 4-cent sales tax on medical marijuana sales, but counties and cities are not allowed under state statute to impose a charge on those sales.
Councilman Scott Seek (District 5, Festus) has been a strong proponent of placing the sales tax before voters.
“The No. 1 reason is this is about bringing more revenue into the county so we can do the things that need to be done,” he said. “This is a consumption tax that only users of recreational marijuana are being asked to pay. I guess some people might call it a ‘sin tax,’ but not a lot of people have problems paying extra taxes on things like tobacco and alcohol, so I don’t foresee a problem here.”
It’s not known how much it will cost the county to place the issue before voters in April, when the ballot usually includes municipal and school elections. County office elections appear on the August and November elections.
Entities that participate in each election share in the cost to run it, with each one paying a proportional amount depending on how many of the 51 voting precincts in the county it uses.
County Clerk Jeannie Goff said the only entity that used every polling place in the April 2023 election, the Jefferson County Health Department, paid $126,000.
Money to pay for an April election was not included in the county’s 2024 budget, the approval of which is scheduled for a final council vote on Dec. 21.
“We’ll figure it out,” County Executive Dennis Gannon said.
The county budget may be amended at any time after it is approved.
Gannon has said he has no projection on how much revenue a countywide recreational marijuana sales tax might bring in, either with or without revenue from the dispensaries in the cities.
Whatever a tax may generate, questions already have arisen on how it might be spent.
Gannon has said he’d prefer that no particular use for the money be specified in the ballot issue because once that purpose has been paid for, it can’t be used for anything else. However, Councilman Bob Tullock (District 7, House Springs) proposed an amendment that would restrict the use of the recreational marijuana sales tax revenue to pay off county debt.
“What will we do after we pay off the debt?” Seek asked. “Your amendment doesn’t tell us what happens after that.”
“If we do that, that means that if we have no debt, that money forever just accumulates in an account,” Gannon said.
Councilman Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) agreed with Gannon.
“It’s important that we pay off the county debt when we have unanticipated income, but I don’t think it’s proper to put it on the ballot,” he said.
County Counselor Jalesia F.M. Kuenzel said wording on a ballot issue must be precise.
“Debt is a very loaded term,” she said. “If you put it in there, it’s very difficult to define. Exactly what is debt? It’s not as simple as it would seem.”
In the end, Tullock’s proposed amendment failed unanimously, with even Tullock casting a dissenting vote.