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Oakland, California, Measure V, Marijuana Business Tax Amendments (November 2018)
| Measure V: Oakland Marijuana Business Tax Amendments |
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 6, 2018 |
| Status: |
 Approved
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| Topic: |
| Local marijuana |
| Related articles |
| Local marijuana on the ballot November 6, 2018 ballot measures in California Alameda County, California ballot measures Local business regulation on the ballot |
| See also |
| Oakland, California |
A measure to amend provisions of the marijuana business tax was on the ballot for Oakland voters in Alameda County, California, on November 6, 2018. It was approved.
A yes vote was a vote in favor of amending the marijuana business tax law to:
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| A no vote was a vote against amending the marijuana business tax law. |
Election results
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Oakland, California, Measure V, Marijuana Business Tax Amendments (November 2018) |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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122,628 | 79.82% | ||
| No | 31,008 | 20.18% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot question
The ballot question was as follows:[1]
| “ |
Shall the Measure: (1) allowing cannabis businesses to pay business taxes quarterly; (2) allowing cannabis manufacturing and/or cultivation businesses to deduct the value of raw materials from gross receipts in calculating business taxes in the manner applicable to manufacturing businesses; and (3) authorizing the City Council, without returning to the voters, to amend medical or non-medical cannabis businesses taxes in any manner that does not increase the tax rate, be adopted?[2] |
” |
Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the Oakland City Attorney:
| “ |
The City’s Business Tax The City of Oakland’s business tax laws are in an ordinance in Chapter 5.04 of the Oakland Municipal Code (“OMC”) (“Business Tax Ordinance” or “Ordinance”). The Business Tax Ordinance applies to all “persons” engaged in business activities in Oakland. The definition of “persons” includes but is not limited to any natural person, company, corporation, firm, estate, joint venture, club or association. (OMC section 5.04.030.) The Business Tax Ordinance provides the procedure to calculate the amount of business tax owed for various business activities based on a business’s “gross receipts.” “Gross receipts” means the total amount actually received or receivable by a business as a result of its business activities during a fiscal year. The Ordinance specifically identifies the amounts that may be excluded from gross receipts in calculating the business tax. Current Business Tax Ordinance Does Not Allow Cannabis Businesses to Deduct the Value of Raw Materials from Gross Receipts OMC section 5.04.390 provides the methodology to calculate the annual tax for businesses that manufacture or process any goods, wares, merchandise, articles or commodities for sale in the City, and expressly allows deduction of the value of raw materials from gross receipts. Currently, the methodology for calculating the business tax for medical and nonmedical cannabis businesses does not allow deduction of the value of raw materials from gross receipts. OMC section 5.04.480 of the Ordinance provides that each person engaged in a medical cannabis business shall pay a business tax of $50 for each $1,000 of gross receipts or fractional part thereof. OMC section 5.04.481 provides that each person engaged in a non-medical cannabis business shall pay a business tax of $100 for each $1,000 of gross receipts or fractional part thereof. Proposed Amendments Would Allow Cannabis Businesses to Deduct the Value of Raw Materials from Gross Receipts, Pay Business Taxes on a Quarterly Basis, and Allow City Council to Amend the Cannabis Business Tax in Any Manner that Does Not Increase the Tax Rate This measure would amend the OMC to allow medical cannabis businesses and non-medical cannabis businesses engaged in manufacturing and/or cultivation activities to (1) deduct the value of raw materials from gross receipts in the same manner that OMC section 5.04.390 provides for non-cannabis manufacturing businesses; and (2) elect to pay business taxes on a quarterly basis according to rules and procedures adopted by the Director of Finance. This measure also would allow the Oakland City Council, after holding a public hearing, to amend OMC sections 5.04.480 and/or 5.04.481 in any manner that would not increase the tax rate applicable to medical and/or non-medical cannabis businesses, or otherwise constitute a tax increase that would require voter approval. This measure was placed on the ballot by the Oakland City Council. Passage of this measure requires the affirmative vote of a majority of voters (i.e., more than 50% of the votes cast). [2] |
” |
| —Oakland City Attorney[3] | ||
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a 6-0 vote of the Oakland City Council on June 19, 2018.[3]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Alameda County, "Election Information," accessed September 5, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Alameda County, "Measure V Text," accessed September 6, 2018
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