A divided St. Charles City Council has approved taxing recreational marijuana sales in the city even as the question of whether dispensaries will be allowed in the area remains an open one for local aldermen.
By a 6-4 vote, city aldermen approved a proposed 3-percent tax during a Sept. 16 city council meeting. St. Charles Finance Director Chris Minick told city officials the tax could generate as much as $1 million in sales tax revenue for the city per $20 million in recreational marijuana sales, adding that the proposed tax would be in addition to all other taxes and fees applicable to recreational cannabis sales in the city and tacked onto the city’s existing 2-percent local sales tax.
While current law prohibits the enactment of a local tax on recreational marijuana sales until Sept. 1, 2020, the Illinois Municipal League has requested a change in the law that would allow locally imposed taxes to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, coinciding with the date allowing recreational marijuana sales in the state.
"The Illinois Department of Revenue does require 90-days' notice to process changes to local sales tax, so the Illinois Municipal League is recommending that any municipality that would like to implement the sales tax on recreational sales of cannabis needs to pass that ordinance and certify it to the Department of Revenue prior to Oct. 1, 2019," Minick told the Kane County Chronicle. "The local sales tax could then be implemented on Jan. 1."
At a city council meeting earlier this summer, by a 2-1 margin aldermen voted to allow city staffers to begin the zoning process for two recreational sales facilities. The new policy would designate marijuana dispensaries as a special use in districts carved out for them, with one located on the east side and one on the west side of the Fox River.
Voting No to the measure at the Sept. 16 meeting were Second Ward Alderman Rita Anne Payleitner, First Ward Alderman Ronald Silkaitis, Second Ward Alderman Arthur Lemke and Fifth Ward Alderman Maureen Lewis. As chair of the Government Operations Committee, Lewis has argued that implementing the tax would be premature given the city council has yet to officially declare recreational marijuana sales legal for the city.
"I think it's premature myself, taxing something we don't even have in existence," Lewis said during a gathering earlier this month.
As of Jan.1, a new statewide law will allow Illinois residents 21 and older to possess up to 30 grams of marijuana and five grams of cannabis concentrate. In addition, registered medical marijuana patients will be permitted to grow up to five cannabis plants in their homes and possess more than 30 grams of cannabis under certain conditions.
Earlier this month, members of a St. Charles advisory panel said they need more time and information before weighing in on the burning question of whether or not recreational marijuana sales should be permitted. The city council is entrusted with making the final decision.
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