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Local leaders warn reducing or sunsetting marijuana host community funds would break voter promise and strain townships
Summary
County and township officials urged the Senate not to reduce or sunset the marijuana host community share created after Issue 2, telling the committee that many communities permitted dispensaries because voters approved the revenue sharing and that local budgets now rely on those funds.
Township trustees, mayors and municipal officials from Mahoning County, Columbia Township (Hamilton County), Austintown and other jurisdictions told the committee that language in the House version of the state budget would reduce the local host community share of marijuana excise tax revenue and impose a five‑year sunset or an early operational deadline that jeopardizes funds communities counted on when approving dispensaries.
Robert Santos, president of the Mahoning County Township Association, and Bruce Shepus, Austintown Township board chair, asked the Senate to restore the host community share to the 36% the ballot initiative described and to remove a five‑year sunset in the House language. David Kubicki, chair of Columbia Township trustees, said his township allowed dispensaries only after the ballot passage and that the prospect of losing or reducing promised host funds would be "catastrophic" for local budgets that planned to use those revenues to avoid raising property taxes.
Witnesses asked the committee to honor the terms voters approved in Issue 2 and to avoid changing the terms after communities opened dispensaries; some speakers called for moving the operational eligibility deadline later in the year to allow licensees time to negotiate leases and complete inspections.
Ending: County and township leaders said altering or phasing out the host community fund after voters approved Issue 2 would breach the expectations that led many communities to permit dispensaries and urged the Senate to retain 36% host support without a sunset.
