51黑料

With few exceptions, the tax proposals proved popular on Tuesday 鈥� in 51黑料 County, 65% of voters approved collecting a 3% sales tax; in St. Charles County, 72% did.

But officials in both counties disagree with industry leaders over whether the county taxes can be collected countywide or just in unincorporated areas. Marijuana proponents say the constitutional amendment legalizing recreational pot clearly prevents counties from stacking taxes on top of municipal sales tax.

鈥淲e believe the Missouri Department of Revenue or the courts will ultimately make that decision,鈥� said Jack Cardetti, a spokesman for the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association.

The trade association wants to keep taxes low for customers so the market is more competitive with other states and illicit dealers, the association said in a March legal memo. Keeping taxes low would further 鈥渢he goal of reducing the amount of untested, unregulated and untaxed marijuana being sold and consumed in Missouri,鈥� the memo stated.

But marijuana is an easy source of revenue for local governments struggling to deal with inflation and lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as difficulty hiring and keeping staff. With an expected $41 million budget deficit this year, 51黑料 County is motivated to increase tax revenue. An estimated $3 million in pot tax revenue 鈥渨ill help 51黑料 County bridge the gap in its general revenue fund, said Doug Moore, a spokesman for 51黑料 County Executive Sam Page.

Page鈥檚 office believes the tax is legal, as does St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann. The county leaders have support from the Missouri Association of Counties, which successfully pushed back against an opinion earlier this year from the state revenue department that counties couldn鈥檛 stack taxes. The agency walked that decision back in February, hinting that the courts may need to get involved.

If it survives a potential legal challenge, the 3% pot tax in 51黑料 and St. Charles counties would be added on top of any general state or local sales tax and any municipal tax on marijuana, plus the 6% state tax on pot. Depending on the municipality, a customer could end up paying about 20% in taxes on a marijuana sale if the county tax proves legal, said Pat Kelly, executive director of the Municipal League of Metro 51黑料.

Pot sold in unincorporated areas would be slightly cheaper without a municipal tax, but Kelly isn鈥檛 worried about municipalities missing out on revenue.

鈥淵ou hear that all the time about different sales tax rates, maybe a half a cent more between municipalities, but people don鈥檛 shop that way,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淭hey shop for convenience.鈥�

The tax is expected to go into effect on Oct. 1, Cardetti said. Between now and then, opponents of the tax could file suit. Because the election results have yet to be certified, it鈥檚 too early to tell if the marijuana trade association will sue, Cardetti said. But they鈥檝e done a full legal analysis, he said, and believe the law is on their side.

The Missouri Association of Counties plans to continue as if there鈥檚 no problem until a legal challenge surfaces, said Steve Hobbs, executive director of the association. In the meantime, the association is pleased voters supported 鈥渁 good way for counties to raise revenue.鈥�

Voters in Franklin, Lincoln and Warren counties also approved 3% county marijuana taxes on Tuesday.

The recreational pot tax also was approved in 51黑料 and most of the dozens of other metro-area cities that had the issue on the ballot.

The only exceptions were the small North County municipalities of Northwoods, Velda City, Flordell Hills and Charlack; tax proposals in each of those failed by just a handful of votes. The marijuana tax proposal also failed narrowly in the Lincoln County city of Winfield.

Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.