Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Jon Murray

POT TAX RETENTION MEASURE ADVANCES

Denver voters in November may decide whether the city can keep its 
first-year haul from a 3.5 percent special recreational marijuana sales tax.

The city's ballot question would join a likely statewide measure 
asking the same question about $ 58 million collected by the state 
last year from its separate marijuana tax. In Denver's case, at stake 
is nearly $ 5.3 million.

A City Council committee approved the wording 5- 0Wednesday. The 
measure is expected to get the council's final sign-off June 8.

The city and the state must ask voters to let them keep the entire 
amounts because of rules under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. A 
booming economy resulted in higher revenue for both last year than 
had been projected when voters approved the state and local taxes on 
recreational marijuana.

TABOR requires that all of those new taxes be refunded, unless voters 
give the governments the green light to spend the money. Denver's 
proposed ballot question also would ask for permission to keep 
collecting the full tax.

Most of the state tax money would go to public school construction.

The city has used some of its collections for increased inspections, 
enforcement and public education about marijuana. The rest hasn't 
been earmarked, although the city tapped $ 3.2 million from pot taxes 
to help cover higher costs for the Central Denver Recreation Center project.

Last year, Denver collected $ 12.8 million from recreational 
marijuana sales, including from the regular sales tax and a cut of 
the state tax. The city also collected $ 6.6 million in taxes on 
sales of medical marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom