Title
a. Receive a staff report on cannabis tax revenue, the community engagement process and funding allocations made by the Board of Supervisors using cannabis tax revenue.
b. Provide direction to staff.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Budget Committee:
a. Receive a staff report on cannabis tax revenue, the community engagement process and funding allocations made by the Board of Supervisors using cannabis tax revenue.
b. Provide direction to staff.
SUMMARY:
In October 2018, as part of a CAO-IGLA request to increase resources/funding allocation to more effectively implement the County's Cannabis Program, the Board of Supervisors concurred with the request made by Chair Alejo and Supervisor Parker that the Board Budget Committee review the uses of cannabis revenue in light of the community engagement process conducted in early 2018. This report is intended to respond to that request.
Background
In 2016, the voters of Monterey County approved a general tax on commercial cannabis in the unincorporated area. The tax was approved for "general governmental purposes" and is discretionary revenue which may be allocated at the discretion of the Board as part of the annual County budget process.
In late 2017, the Board directed CAO-IGLA to conduct a community engagement process to gain input from the community on potential uses of this new source of discretionary revenue. CAO-IGLA convened a working group which included County budget staff, CAO-Community Engagement, the Health Department, First 5, Building Healthy Communities and MILPA. The results of Impact Monterey County were used as a starting point in developing the engagement process.
The engagement process included a random telephone survey of 625 registered voters in Monterey County, an online survey and 5 community forums, one in each supervisorial district. As part of the engagement process, it was made clear that public input was sought and also that the ultimate decision regard...
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