Elena Bilheimer, EcoNews Journalist
On February 7, 2022, Humboldt County Board of Supervisors approved an 85 percent cut of cannabis growers’ 2022 Measure S tax bills. This decision came due to pressure from local growers concerned about their ability to stay afloat amidst the various dilemmas facing small farms. These include state taxes, fees, compliance costs, labor fees, the effects of COVID-19, industry-wide overproduction, and competition with larger farms and the still thriving illicit market. While this decision provides some immediate relief for local legal farms, the overall conditions have yet to change in order to address many of the environmental and economic concerns that have arisen for small farms as a result of legalization.
Measure S, approved by 66 percent of voters in 2016, helped “establish a $1 – $3 per square foot, based upon type of grow, annual commercial marijuana cultivation tax,” as stated on the ballot measure. The amount taxed depends on whether the cannabis is grown outside ($1 per square foot), with mixed light ($2), or indoors ($3). The money collected from these taxes is put in the county General Fund that supports road maintenance, hiring of county officials, and other services deemed essential. Despite larger concerns about the county’s budget, they currently have nothing planned to make up for the $12 million loss per year that will result from the tax cut.
Deliberations over the county’s decision to approve the tax cuts were the focus of the meeting in February, with the supervisors going back and forth about the specific percentage at which to cut taxes. The motion eventually passed 3-1, with Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell recusing herself due to a conflict of interest. Balancing the needs of their constituents and the needs of the county is obviously complicated for the supervisors, especially when the cause of the issue is too big for the county to fix. As reported in an article exploring California’s Cannabis Crisis published in the Rolling Stone, the negative effects of Proposition 64 (which legalized cannabis in California in 2016) are largely tied to the lifting of the one-acre licensing cap which has allowed corporate businesses to bundle licenses together in order to produce mass quantities of cannabis and outcompete mom-and-pop operations. This has made it extremely difficult for small farms to become legal while utilizing environmentally safe methods of cultivation.
Although not every demand made by Humboldt County Growers Alliance (HCGA) to the Board of Supervisors was met (as articulated on their social media), the original October payment of the 2021 Measure S tax will not be due until September 15, 2022 without penalty, the Measure S taxes for 2022 will be cut by 85 percent, and a decision about the 2023 taxes will be revisited at a later date. HCGA celebrated these successes on their social media, announcing to the community “You spoke, they listened. Humboldt’s cannabis farmers secure significant relief.” However, unless there are larger efforts made to protect small and local farms trying to produce cannabis in an environmentally friendly way, local tax cuts can’t do anything to turn the tide and fight corporate cannabis. For more information on local efforts to reform the cannabis industry, visit cannabisinitiative.org.
Elena Bilheimer graduated in winter of 2021 with a degree in environmental studies and a minor in journalism from Cal Poly Humboldt. In her studies she mainly focused on the importance of incorporating social justice with environmental activism to work towards creating a more sustainable world. Some of her passions include being outside, reading, and cooking.