PUEBLO — Pueblo City Councilmembers decided during Tuesday night's regular council meeting to suspend the city's marijuana excise tax by a 4-2 vote.
The ordinance will decrease the excise tax from its current rate of 8% to 0% for three years starting on Jan. 1, 2024.
This means that marijuana retailers won't have to pay the tax to growers. You may see a price drop at dispensaries in town, however, this won't affect the taxes that consumers pay when buying at dispensaries.
There is already a 15% sales tax on marijuana set by the state, and a 29% tax for other goods.
According to the background paper for the proposed ordinance, the current excise tax on marijuana in the City of Pueblo has led to very little marijuana being grown in the city. The background paper also claims that while there were previously many jobs associated with growing and harvesting marijuana, there are now very few in Pueblo.
The background paper said the goal of the proposed tax suspension, introduced on Dec. 11 by Councilor Vicente Martinez Ortega, is to attract new businesses and jobs to Pueblo while increasing competitiveness between existing businesses in the city and businesses in other jurisdictions.
Back in 2015, Pueblo voters approved an ordinance that allowed council members to set the marijuana excise tax as long as it does not exceed 15%.
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