Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cannabis Regulation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee backs tying cannabis registration fees to state cap, staff to draft ordinance
Summary
City staff presented a comparison of local and state cannabis fees; the committee agreed to set local registration and renewal fees at the state‑allowed threshold (up to 50% of state fee), asked staff to confirm Department of Revenue guidance on an additional local tax, and to return with ordinance language for January adoption.
The Isanti Committee of the Whole reopened discussion of cannabis registration and renewal fees and directed staff to prepare ordinance language tying local fees to state statutory limits.
"We provided the table that compares the state's fees versus what our current registration fees are," a staff member said, explaining staff had asked the state cannabis office about which compliance checks are a local responsibility. Chief Myers said local compliance checks would focus on retail operations and that some enforcement responsibilities for other business types fall to state entities.
Council members discussed whether to set a municipal fee equal to a percentage of the state's maximum or to fix a local dollar figure. Multiple council members favored maximizing available local fees within statutory limits to recoup costs the city must absorb since some state revenue or tax benefits changed. Staff reviewed the draft language that ties campus registration to "$500 or 50% of state annual license fee, whichever is less," and said any changes to state statute would still require staff review and, in some cases, a council ordinance update.
Staff also reported it has an outstanding question to the Department of Revenue about a reported additional local tax of up to 3 percent; staff said it would relay guidance to the council when available. The committee agreed that staff should return with a proposed ordinance updating Chapter 160 to reflect the new fee schedule and noted that any adopted changes would likely not take effect until January and would not apply retroactively to pending applicants.
