By ISABELLA VANDERHEIDEN | Times-Standard

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors appointed 1st District Supervisor Rex Bohn to serve as a county representative for the California Cannabis Authority (CCA) Tuesday following 5th District Supervisor Steve Madrone’s decision to resign from the appointment. Bohn will represent Humboldt County for the CCA alongside county Treasurer-Tax Collector John Bartholomew.

“The CCA is a Joint Power Authority created by contract between counties with cannabis regulatory or taxing authority,” according to the staff report. “The purpose of the organization is to develop and manage a statewide data platform that will gather, collect, and analyze information from a myriad of data sources into one resource, to help local governments ensure cannabis regulatory compliance and also provide necessary information to financial institutions that wish to work with the cannabis industry.”

Bohn emphasized the need for “more unity” between counties and the Department of Cannabis Control to deliver an across-the-board approach to cannabis taxation.

“I would do it. I mean, it’s not like I don’t have enough committees or anything else. But, I think, after watching yesterday and the importance of getting a focused across the board situation so everybody is on the same page (is important),” he said, referring to the board’s decision to slash the county’s cannabis cultivation tax Monday.

Bartholomew noted that he has served on the CCA “since before it was established as an organization” but questioned whether the $28,000 annual membership was really worth it.

“Data can be tracked from Humboldt County and thereby make the platform that CCA offers useful for county operations and understanding of what’s happening within the cannabis industry here in Humboldt County. Unless the county is going to do that, I don’t know that there’s a lot of value in staying active with the CCA because it’s costing I think $28,000 a year,” he said. “I hate to say this because I’ve been a huge supporter of CCA since the beginning. …I think the county should decide if operators will be required to participate on the CCA platform or not. If not, your board should make a decision for what kind of value the CCA is really providing to the county.”

Bohn made a motion to sit on the board in the meantime. Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson offered a second.

Madrone agreed and encouraged the board to consider a future agenda item regarding future CCA membership.

“The main reason (other counties) are involved, as I understand it, is because they use it as an enforcement tool in terms of trying to use the metric data to figure out if farmers are reporting accurately or not,” he said. “Frankly, it does nothing for enforcement, for compliance, or unlicensed applicants because that’s not the way it’s set up and it costs $28,000 a year for the county to be involved in this and we get very little value out of that.”

County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes said staff could bring back an agenda item to reevaluate the board’s involvement with the CCA at a future date. “Supervisor Madrone and I did discuss this yesterday and given the reductions to the excise tax revenues, this can also be incorporated into the budget process as well,” she said.

During public comment, Natalynne DeLapp, executive director of the Humboldt County Growers Alliance, expressed her support for Bohn’s appointment to the CCA and asked whether it would be possible for California counties involved with the CCA to negotiate a lower cost for membership. DeLapp also thanked the board for approving tax relief for cannabis cultivators.

The board ultimately voted 4-1, with Madrone dissenting for an unknown reason, to appoint Bohn to the CCA.

Isabella Vanderheiden covers Humboldt County government, environment and cannabis news for the Times-Standard. Isabella earned a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Humboldt State University and has written for several Humboldt County news outlets.

Voters throughout the region will decide in November on issues surrounding marijuana-based businesses in their city.

The latest to reach the ballot is a measure in Hemet that would tax cannabis businesses while keeping the city’s no-marijuana moratorium in place until 2021.

Placing the initiative on the ballot was approved in a 4-0 vote to counterbalance a citizen-backed initiative that would allow pot businesses. Councilwoman Karlee Meyer was absent.

If both measures pass, whichever gets the most votes will be enacted.

The cities of Moreno Valley and Banning also will have marijuana initiatives on the November ballot. Perris and San Jacinto, which have already approved pot businesses, are looking to refine their ordinances.

The measures come two years after California voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana. While pot smoking was decriminalized, as well as the use of marijuana in other products, the measure gave a lot of autonomy to cities and many have struggled with how much, or little, they should allow.

While some cities in the Coachella Valley have seen large revenue increases from cannabis businesses, others are still looking for their footing.

San Jacinto voters approved local marijuana businesses and taxes on the same ballot that the statewide initiative passed, but there are still no legal marijuana-based businesses operating in the city.

Hemet leaders indicated that they favor keeping the city’s moratorium in place. A lot of that is financially driven.

“We don’t think the city can afford to gear up for the cannabis measures,” City Manager Allen Parker said.

Oversight and licensing will be expensive, he said.

While the revenue that could come in from marijuana businesses could be substantial — an estimated $3.5 million annually — it will be a couple years before the city sees any money, Parker said. In the meantime, additional police and code enforcement officers and other staff would have to be hired to administer the businesses.

“We’re going to be on the hook for this, all the taxpayers are going to be on the hook for it, even those who are against marijuana,” Mayor Michael Perciful said. “It’s going to cost the city a considerable about of money that we don’t have in the budget currently.”

None of that would matter if voters approve the citizen initiative.

“Whether you’re against it or support it, No. 1 is that we protect everyone,” Councilwoman Bonnie Wright said. “We still have to be cognizant of how we protect, how we serve and do right by our citizens.”

The city’s initiative would tax dispensaries 15 percent of gross receipts, manufacturing businesses would pay 25 percent of gross receipts and cultivation businesses would pay $30 per square foot of cultivation space annually.

The citizen’s initiative would allow non-retail cannabis businesses in manufacturing zones, taxing them $10 per square foot of space.

A second citizen-backed proposed initiative did not qualify for the ballot.

The council considered placing a measure on the ballot that would allow cannabis businesses to open and be taxed but members decided it was too late to craft such an ordinance, with Friday, Aug. 10, being the deadline to qualify for a November vote.

“To do something like this, we have to have time,” Councilwoman Linda Krupa said.

Russ Brown said he favored waiting, especially since the cannabis industry is ever changing.

“Who knows what the landscape will be from a legal perspective one year from now or two years from now,” he said.

A judge has ordered the closing of a South Whittier marijuana dispensary, which attracted complaints from a nearby La Mirada mosque.

The Tuesday Los Angeles County Superior Court ruling will stand until there is a trial.

Judge Holly Fujie ordered property owner Edward Lee to no longer lease to “The Plug – La Mirada,” which has been operating out of a former Conroy’s Flowers shop at 14203 Imperial Highway since March, according to her tentative ruling issued on Tuesday.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office sought the injunction at the request of La Mirada Masjid, a mosque located 200 feet away.

“This is an unlicensed, unlawful cannabis dispensary that has been operating in a community that doesn’t want it,” Hahn said in an emailed statement.

“I appreciate the judge for approving today’s injunction,” she said. “It is the first step to getting this dispensary closed for good. While shutting down unlicensed cannabis facilities has proven to be difficult, my office has made addressing this particular dispensary a priority because of its impact on the La Mirada Masjid.”

A man who answered the phone at The Plug on Tuesday afternoon refused to comment.

News of the ruling was received well, D.M. Rezaur Rahman, president of La Mirada Masjid, said in a Tuesday telephone interview.

“We don’t want to expose our kids to it, so they won’t be interested in marijuana,” Rahman said. “According to our religious belief, we don’t want any thing that will be addictive.”

The dispensary is so close to the mosque that sometimes its customers would park in La Mirada Masjid’s parking lot, he said.

The county’s current ordinance bans all cannabis businesses and activities in unincorporated areas.

In May, county officials filed a motion for preliminary injunction to temporarily halt the dispensary from operating until the matter can be brought to trial.

Sheriff’s deputies still must serve the order to The Plug – La Mirada to cease operating at this location or any other location in unincorporated Los Angeles County until a trial on the merits, which should take place later this year, according to a news release.

Legislative Analyst’s Office calls for taxing marijuana based on potency and dropping cultivation taxes.

California’s struggling cannabis industry didn’t get the recommendation many hoped for — a call to sharply lower the industry’s tax rate — but a long-awaited state report did suggest a marijuana tax overhaul.

The report from California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office, released Tuesday, Dec. 17, says lawmakers should ditch the way the state currently taxes marijuana and, instead, tax cannabis at different rates based on its potency. Such a tax structure, the report said, would result in stable revenue and discourage cannabis abuse.

To read more about the report, click here

High taxes, outlaw competitors make it tough for legal operators to make a buck

As year two of legal cannabis sales in California comes to a close, shoppers are still more likely to buy marijuana from illicit sellers than from state-sanctioned stores that pay taxes and test their products for safety.

California’s 7,000 licensed cannabis businesses — and the state’s tax revenue — are feeling the pinch.

Prominent cannabis companies that a year ago were growing aggressively have, in recent months, laid off hundreds of workers. They say hefty taxes, onerous regulations and competition from a thriving illicit market are forcing them to scale back operations.

Now the industry, which is already operating under effective tax rates of up to 70%, is bracing for another hit. Starting Jan. 1, marijuana retailers will pay 12.5% more in taxes than they do now, while cultivator taxes will go up more than 4%.

The unexpected move announced last month is being described as shortsighted by many in the industry. Licensed business owners point out that their outlaw competitors — retailers and others who haven’t received state licensing — can sell tax-free cannabis for a fraction of the price.

Read the rest of this story on mercurynews.com.

Want to open a recreational marijuana bushiness in Pasadena? The city is charging $24,000.

The Pasadena City Council last week approved two fees that will be charged to prospective cannabis businesses. The fees make Pasadena one of the more expensive Southern California cities in which to open up a pot shop.

A first-round application fee of $13,654 will be charged to all applicants when a 30-day application window opens in January. Staff will score those applications and choose the best of the bunch — defined as those very likely to pass Planning Commission review — who will be invited to move forward with the permitting process later next year at an additional cost of $10,639.

That second step is similar in style and cost to the city’s existing conditional use permits, which are required for non-marijuana, large-scope projects that must go before the Planning Commission for approval.

Voters in June approved a measure that allows up to six retail dispensaries, four growing facilities and four testing labs in Pasadena.

By comparison, application and permitting fees in Long Beach stand at $6,075, while Culver City hopeful marijuana entrepreneurs can be charged nearly $24,000, according to a Pasadena city staff report.

Pasadena has spent a lot of time and money developing its marijuana regulations. Processing applications through multiple city departments and agencies will cost even more. The city’s new fee schedule is meant to recoup those costs, according to Planning Director David Reyes.

“We used an outside consulting firm, we used in-house attorneys, we used outside attorneys. It took a long time to get this thing right — there was a lot of resources expended,” he said. “These are fees that are just cost recovery. There’s no cushion in there.”

Though there are 14 possible slots for marijuana businesses in Pasadena, it’s not a guarantee. No more than one of each type of business — retail, cultivation and testing — will be allowed in any one council district.

Plus there are other state and local rules that limit where cannabis businesses can open up shop. For example, they must be 600 feet away from residential neighborhoods, schools, churches and parks.

Add those restrictions with the array of currently available real estate in the city, and it’s likely the Pasadena might be able to issue only three or four permits, according to Reyes. Still, he’s anticipating as many as 70 applications.

Already, the city has received calls from people interested in doing business in Pasadena, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. The city will hold a workshop going over the application procedures and selection process from 4 to 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Pasadena Convention Center.

Additional information from the city is available at www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/marijuana- regulations.

Pasadena has prohibited dispensaries since 2005, though that doesn’t mean some haven’t opened illegally. Those illegal pot shops will not be allowed to apply for permits, per the new rules.

Another measure voters approved in June will tax new retail marijuana businesses at 6 percent and all other new marijuana-related businesses at 4 percent.