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Brandon to review cannabis licensing fees and insurance requirements after licensee request
Summary
A Brandon cannabis licensee asked the city to reexamine $5,000 application fees and a $2 million insurance requirement; council directed staff to research neighboring communities and tabled any ordinance change.
The Brandon City Council agreed to review its cannabis licensing rules after a licensee requested lower renewal fees and reduced insurance limits.
Brian (billing inspector) told the council that one licensee, Canonaught LLC, asked the city to review the renewal application fee and the insurance requirement. Staff said the initial and renewal application fees are $5,000. The per-capita license fee is calculated at $1 per resident based on the last census, which staff estimated at about $11,048; at renewal the combined figure discussed in the record was about $16,048 per year. The licensing ordinance currently requires $2,000,000 in insurance; the licensee requested the council consider reducing that requirement to $1,000,000.
Council members asked whether renewal applications require the same depth of review as initial applications; staff said renewals typically need less scrutiny unless the operator proposes changes to operations. The chair asked staff (Katie and Brian) to look at neighboring communities’ fee and insurance structures to stay competitive. The council took no immediate ordinance action and tabled changes pending staff research and a future report back to the council.
No vote tally or ordinance language change was recorded during the meeting; staff noted that the insurance requirement is codified in ordinance and would require an ordinance process to change.
