Santa Cruz, California, Marijuana Tax Amendment, Measure I (November 2016)
| Measure I: Santa Cruz Marijuana Tax Amendment |
|---|
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Approved
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| Topic: |
| Local marijuana |
| Related articles |
| Local marijuana on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in California Santa Cruz County, California ballot measures City tax on the ballot |
| See also |
An amendment to the marijuana tax law was on the ballot for Santa Cruz voters in Santa Cruz County, California, on November 8, 2016. It was approved.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of amending the city's marijuana tax law to conform to state law. |
| A no vote was a vote against amending the city's marijuana tax law to conform to state law. |
Election results
| Measure I | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 22,637 | 84.08% | ||
| No | 4,287 | 15.92% | ||
- Election results from Santa Cruz County Elections Office
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[1]
| “ |
To protect the quality of life in the City of Santa Cruz and to fund essential city services such as police, fire, emergency response, youth and senior programs, job creation, housing, and environmental protection, shall Measure L be amended to clarify minor administrative procedures, revise the cannabis definition to conform to State law and revise the definition of cannabis business or medical marijuana business to include all cannabis businesses with all funds staying local?[2] |
” |
Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the Santa Cruz City Attorney:
| “ |
In November of 2014 the voters, by an 82% majority, approved a ballot measure amending the Santa Cruz Municipal Code to impose a cannabis business tax on cannabis (marijuana) businesses operating in the City. The ordinance authorizes the City Council to set a maximum tax rate of ten percent (10%) of gross receipts but sets the initial tax rate at seven percent (7%). The ordinance broadly defines "cannabis business" to include any for-profit or nonprofit business that distributes, delivers, dispenses, exchanges, barters or sells either medical or non-medical cannabis and includes, but is not limited to, medical marijuana cooperatives and businesses, and any other business which transports, manufactures, compounds, converts, processes, prepares, stores, packages, sells at wholesale, or sells at retail, cannabis or products made of cannabis. The tax is a gross receipts tax imposed on cannabis businesses and is not a sales tax imposed on qualified patients, primary caregivers or other persons who purchase or otherwise acquire cannabis for their personal use. The cannabis business tax is a “general tax” as defined by the California Constitution. As such, all revenue it generates is deposited in the City's General Fund, which is used by the City to pay for the provision of municipal services to City residents and visitors including the provision of such services as police, fire, emergency response, parks, street maintenance and pothole repair, libraries, youth and senior programs, economic development and job creation, affordable housing, and other essential city services. In addition to minor, non-substantive changes designed to clarify the terms of the cannabis business tax ordinance, this measure would: 1. Amend the definition of “cannabis” to conform to recent changes in state law; 2. Amend the definition of “cannabis business” or “medical marijuana business” to add “production” and “cultivating” to the list of activities subject to taxation; and 3. Clarify the process for a successor owner or operator of a business subject to the tax to obtain verification from the City that all outstanding taxes owed under the cannabis business tax ordinance have been paid and that, therefore, the successor owner or operator will not be liable for any such outstanding tax payments. This ballot measure has been placed on the ballot by the Santa Cruz City Council. It requires a simple majority to pass. [2] |
” |
| —Santa Cruz City Attorney[1] | ||
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the governing officials of Santa Cruz City Cannabis Business Tax, California, California.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Santa Cruz City Cannabis Business Tax, California Local marijuana tax. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Santa Cruz County Elections Office, "Local Measures on the November 8, 2016 Ballot," accessed November 14, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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