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City manager recommends initially delegating cannabis licensing to county; council hears revenue-split explanation
Summary
City manager Becca recommended designating cannabis licensing authority to the county—at least initially—while retaining local zoning control; she described how excise-tax revenue flows under current rules and suggested a joint housing-and-cannabis summit to coordinate local planning.
City manager Becca updated council on conversations about whether Morris should serve as its own cannabis licensing authority or designate that authority to the county.
Becca said the tax structure includes a 10% excise tax on cannabis products and that, as she was told, 80% of that excise is allocated to the state’s general fund while the remaining 20% is split between cities and the county (she described that split as roughly half to cities in the county and half to the county). Based on that explanation, Becca recommended initially designating the county as the licensing authority while retaining local zoning control over where businesses may operate.
Council members discussed the potential revenue impact for the sheriff’s budget and the ease of switching authority later if the city wanted to register businesses itself. Becca said moving authority back and forth would not be difficult administratively. Council directed staff to continue coordination and to include cannabis in a proposed joint housing summit to discuss related land-use and revenue questions.
