Proponents of a Denver ballot initiative want to add another 1.5 percent to the local marijuana sales tax to fund pandemic research, and it looks like they ll get enough signatures to put the proposal before city voters in November.
Recreational marijuana purchases carry several layers of sales taxes in Colorado, at both the state and local levels. In Denver, there s currently a special marijuana tax of 5.5 percent on those sales; combined with a standard 4.81 percent retail sales tax, that amounts to just over 10.3 percent before you add state taxes. Now the campaign for the Denver Pandemic Fund believes the time is right to raise Denver s special marijuana tax to 7 percent, which would push the total local sales tax on recreational purchases in the city to just under 12 percent at the register.
Following a year of budget cuts and funding rearrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado s Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program is on track to get those funds back from a major revenue source: pot taxes. Senate Bill 207, which passed through the Colorado Legislature last month, will require the transfer of $100 million from the state s Marijuana Tax Cash Fund into the BEST program, to restore funding cut last year.
BEST was established in 2008 to provide funding for public schools to rebuild, repair or replace primary educational facilities. According to Andy Stine, Colorado Department of Education capital construction director, the BEST program has received over $325 million in marijuana excise taxes since 2014 but BEST is requesting around $650 million for 2021 projects alone. “As for the bill to restore funds to the program, any amount helps, he says, noting that local governments kick in a 50 percent match in BEST funding from state grants.