Watsonville, California, Marijuana Business Tax, Measure L (November 2016)
| Measure L: Watsonville Marijuana Business Tax |
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Approved
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| Topic: |
| Local marijuana tax |
| Related articles |
| Local marijuana tax on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in California Santa Cruz County, California ballot measures City tax on the ballot |
| See also |
| Watsonville, California |
A marijuana tax measure was on the ballot for Watsonville voters in Santa Cruz County, California, on November 8, 2016. It was approved.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of imposing a tax on marijuana cultivation at a rate of $20 per square foot per year of canopy area and 2.5% on gross receipts. |
| A no vote was a vote against imposing a tax on marijuana cultivation at a rate of $20 per square foot per year of canopy area and 2.5% on gross receipts. |
Election results
| Measure L | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 9,136 | 74.2% | ||
| No | 3,176 | 25.8% | ||
- Election results from Santa Cruz County Elections Office
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[1]
| “ |
To protect and preserve the quality of life in the City of Watsonville and to fund essential City services, shall an ordinance be adopted to impose a tax on cannabis cultivation of not more than $20 per square foot per year of canopy area, not more than 2.5% on gross receipts from manufactured cannabis product, and not more than 10% on gross receipts from the retail sale of cannabis?[2] |
” |
Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the Watsonville City Attorney:
| “ |
This ballot measure, if adopted by the voters, would add an ordinance to the Watsonville Municipal Code imposing a cannabis business tax on cannabis (marijuana) businesses which operate inside City limits. The ordinance authorizes the City Council to set a maximum tax rate of no more than $20 per square foot per year of cultivated cannabis plant area, a maximum tax rate of not more than two and one-half percent of gross receipts from the manufacture or processing of cannabis, and a gross receipts tax of not more than ten percent of gross receipts from the sale of cannabis. The ordinance defines "cannabis” and “business" together to include all conduct within the City relating to cannabis. All cannabis business tax revenue will be deposited in the City's General Fund. General Fund revenue is used by the City to pay for the provision of municipal services to City residents and visitors including the provision of essential City services. Because the proposed cannabis business tax would be imposed for general municipal governmental purposes, the ballot measure proposes a "general tax" as defined by Article XIII of the California Constitution. The City Council voted to approve the proposed tax but it can only go into effect if it is also approved by a majority of voters at the November 2016 election. Accompanying this measure is a non-binding advisory measure, asking voters for guidance on how the additional revenue should be used if the voters approve the measure. In particular, voters are asked whether, if the measure passes, their preference is that (i) 20% of its proceeds be used to pay for law enforcement and crime prevention services, (ii) 15% to pay for fire services, (iii) 20% to pay for community development, (iv) 25% to pay for parks and community services, (v) 8% for the City libraries, and (vi) 12% for non-profit social and community services? If the tax passes, the City Council may be guided by the voter’s decision on the advisory question in deciding how to use the revenue. However, the City Council is not legally bound by the outcome of the vote on the advisory question. The City Council can use the revenue collected as a result of the measure for any lawful City purpose. You can vote “Yes” on the tax and “No” on the accompanying advisory measure. For the ballot measure to be adopted, it must receive a simple majority "yes" vote, in other words, more than fifty percent. A “Yes” vote approves the proposed cannabis business license tax. A “No” vote means there will be no cannabis business license tax. This ballot measure has been placed on the ballot by the Watsonville City Council. The above statement is an impartial analysis of the proposed Cannabis Business Tax on Cannabis Businesses ordinance. [2] |
” |
| —Watsonville 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 Watsonville, California.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Watsonville Local marijuana tax. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
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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