JEFFERSON CITY — St. Charles County officials are defending a 3% countywide tax on recreational marijuana sales, a practice dispensaries are challenging in court.
The county filed a motion to intervene Thursday in a lawsuit that Florissant-based Robust Dispensary originally filed against St. Louis County in October.
Voters in both counties in April approved a 3% tax on recreational marijuana sales. The counties have been charging the tax countywide, even in municipalities that are allowed to charge their own 3% tax.
That has caused tension with the legal marijuana industry, which has argued the 2022 constitutional amendment legalizing cannabis doesn’t allow counties to charge a tax in incorporated areas.
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“We’re intervening in this St. Louis County suit because we think the marijuana industry is trying to twist the language and prevent a tax that the law allows,” St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, a Republican, said in a news release Thursday.
A county news release said there were 13 dispensaries operating in St. Charles County, and that the tax could generate $800,000 for county coffers over the course of a year.
Across the Missouri River in St. Louis County, County Executive Sam Page has touted revenue from marijuana sales amid a budget deficit.
“Those new dollars could be used for parks or police or for roads,” Page said earlier this year.
But the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association has portrayed the countywide taxes as an “unconstitutional money grab” that costs cannabis consumers.
“We are proud to work with our industry partners to stand up for Missouri cannabis customers,” said Andrew Mullins, the association’s executive director, in October.
The association said dozens of counties had been stacking their tax on top of municipal taxes in violation of the constitutional amendment. The association has said a favorable court outcome could save consumers millions of dollars each year.
No hearing had been scheduled in the St. Louis County lawsuit as of Thursday. Circuit Judge Brian May is handling the case.
The St. Louis County lawsuit is in addition to a separate lawsuit filed in September against Buchanan County, in western Missouri, by a dispensary operating in St. Joseph. That lawsuit was also pending on Thursday.
In addition to regular sales taxes, recreational marijuana sales are subject to a 6% state sales tax in addition to any local taxes.
While St. Louis and St. Charles counties instituted their taxes on Oct. 1, St. Louis city officials missed the deadline to begin charging a 3% tax in October, leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table.
A new study found associations between marijuana use and better outcomes for COVID-19 patients. Veuer’s Matt Hoffman reports.
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