San Francisco supervisors approve multi‑year suspension of cannabis business tax on first reading after split vote

A divided San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 on Nov. 15 to pass on first reading an ordinance that suspends the city's cannabis business tax through the 2025 fiscal year.

The vote followed an hour of debate over whether the city should extend the suspension for three years, as the ordinance proposed, or return to the year-by-year approach supervisors have followed since the tax was placed on pause.

Why it matters: Supporters said a multi‑year suspension gives legal cannabis businesses needed certainty as they compete with a still‑large illegal market; opponents said multi‑year relief would forgo substantial city revenue in a volatile budget period and that a shorter, annual extension would allow policymakers to reassess.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin moved an amendment to limit the suspension to one year, striking the proposed 2024-25 years from the ordinance; Supervisor Mark…