West STL News

On Jan. 9, the Liberty City Council unanimously voted to put an additional, local sales tax on adult use recreational marijuana for voter consideration on the April 4 ballot. Revenue from this additional tax will be used for public safety purposes. The ballot language will read as follows:

Shall the City of Liberty, Missouri, impose an additional sales tax at a rate of 3% on all retail sales of adult use marijuana sold within the City for public safety?

What is the additional sales tax on adult use recreational marijuana

If approved by Liberty voters, the City of Liberty will be authorized to collect an additional 3% sales tax on all adult recreational marijuana sales within Liberty. This is in addition to existing state and local sales taxes. The 3% additional adult use recreational marijuana sales tax will not apply to medical marijuana sales.

Who will pay this sales tax?

Any adult who purchases recreational use marijuana from licensed marijuana dispensaries within Liberty. Most surrounding communities are also planning to put this sales tax question to their voters on the April 4 ballot. These include Blue Springs, Excelsior Springs, Gladstone, Grain Valley, Grandview, Independence, Kansas City, MO, Kearney, Lee’s Summit, Raymore, Raytown, Riverside, Smithville and Sugar Creek.

How will the additional revenue be spent?

Revenue from this additional 3% sales tax will be used for public safety purposes, including staffing, recruitment and retention for police, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs and 911 dispatchers.

How will taxpayers know that the funds are used as promised?

Revenues from this tax will be placed in the Public Safety Sales Tax Fund, which is overseen by the Public Safety Sales Tax Committee comprised of Liberty citizens, City staff and Fire and Police union representatives. This Committee monitors the use of public safety sales tax funds to ensure they adhere to voter intent.

How much will this sales tax generate annually?

Preliminary projections are that this 3% sales tax would generate approximately $300,000 based on two existing marijuana dispensaries in Liberty (assuming that both become licensed for recreational sales).

Original source can be found here.