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Councilmember urges caution on cannabis tax revenue estimates ahead of budget
Summary
A councilmember warned the council not to overestimate cannabis tax revenues in the upcoming budget, citing a Western New York figure of about $900,000 in tax revenue and urging conservative projections for fiscal planning.
A councilmember raised concerns about Item 59 and the budgetary assumptions tied to cannabis enforcement and tax revenue, urging the council to use conservative projections in advance of the city budget process.
The speaker noted a recent figure for Western New York cannabis stores "produce over $900,000 worth of tax revenue," and cautioned that the council's proposed budget was appropriating "millions of dollars" in cannabis revenue. The councilmember said the city should "lowball that and be honest" so the budget projections are realistic and do not overstate revenue.
The exchange in the transcript is a floor-level warning and a request for further review; no committee referral or vote on revenue assumptions is recorded in the meeting transcript. The councilmember said they would "dive deeper into it" in committee work going forward.
