SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – The deadline for getting an issue on the August ballot is Wednesday, May 30 and Springfield’s City Manager Jason Gage says the city will meet that deadline to put a recreational marijuana sales tax proposal in front of voters on August 8.
On Monday night the Springfield City Council voted unanimously to sent the matter to a public vote. The three percent recreational marijuana sales tax would be in addition to the city’s base sales tax, which is 8.1 percent, and the state’s 6 percent tax, which was part of Amendment 3.
As part of the August 8 ballot language, the city council stated that if passed, the tax would only be used in four areas: public safety, mental health, substance abuse and housing.
“There was quite a bit of conversation about marijuana and drugs in general,” Gage explained. “We discussed what services could be affected and what needs are in the community. And those four items were connected by that common thread.”
Gage said a low-end estimate of the money the tax would produce is around $1.3 million annually from a thriving new industry that’s already reached sales of $1 billion in just three years, making Missouri the fastest state to reach that mark.
“I wish I was surprised but I’m not,” Gage said with a laugh. “I think as we look at other states that legalizing marijuana, especially recreationally, has significantly increased the interest in the drug. Our hope is that at least those who utilize legal…
