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North Bend mayor flags state bills, marijuana rules and municipal threats discussed at mayors' conference
Summary
Mayor Doug Sammons summarized takeaways from a mayors' conference including proposed state legislation that could remove inside millage authority, changes to dispensary excise tax sharing, growth of dispensaries and unregulated cannabis beverages, and potential processes for dissolving villages.
Mayor Doug Sammons briefed council Monday on items discussed at a recent mayors' conference in Columbus, highlighting several pending state policy changes that could affect small municipalities.
Sammons said one bill discussed at the conference—referred to in the meeting as House Bill 335—would eliminate "inside millage" authority for municipalities. "And currently, inside millage can go up to 10 mills. Currently, we do 4.09 inside millage," he said, explaining that inside millage allows local governments to raise a portion of property tax without a separate voter measure. He said the language had not been included in the bill that went to the governor, and conference attendees believed other proposals in the legislature seek to reduce municipal taxing authority in multiple ways.
Sammons also described measures tied to the state's legalization of marijuana that could affect village revenue. He said an early provision allocated 3.6% of the 10% excise tax from dispensary sales to host communities, but that some proposals would reduce that local share to 2%–2.5% and make the local share expire after five to seven years. He said the cap on dispensaries statewide was reported at 350–400 and that revenues could be significant: "the average sales volume for 1 of these dispensers were around $2,030,000,000," he said.
He flagged an emerging product category—cannabis-infused beverages—and said the conference presenters warned those products were not covered by the original regulatory framework, leaving limited oversight. "There is no oversight on this at all," Sammons said.
Sammons also reported discussion of a potential process that would trigger periodic county review after each decennial census to determine whether a village meets criteria to continue as a municipal corporation, which could ultimately place dissolution of a village on the ballot if criteria are not met. He said conference attendees, including representatives of the Ohio Municipal League, urged mayors to coordinate lobbying visits to Columbus to protect local authority.
Council made no formal action on the mayor's items; Sammons said he would attend a Hamilton County Municipal League event in September and that he and other mayors in the region plan to coordinate more advocacy efforts in the state capital if proposed legislation continues.
