City of Rio Dell Issues Statement Critical of State Cannabis Tax System

Mayor Debra Garnes Tours Legal Rio Dell Cannabis Site

Mayor Debra Garnes Tours Legal Rio Dell Cannabis Site. [Photo from the City of Rio Dell]

Press release from the City of Rio Dell:

At a special meeting of the Rio Dell City Council on Tuesday, December 14th the Council approved a resolution urging the State government to consider reforming its cannabis taxation system. Specifically, the Council requested that State dramatically reduce or eliminate State cultivation taxes. The State’s original tax scheme called for cultivation rates ranging from $9.25 to $2.75 per ounce, depending on the type of dried product. This is in addition to a 15% State transaction tax at the retail level.

Starting on January 1, 2022 the State plans to raise their cultivation taxes to range from $10.08 to $3.00 per ounce despite a deep decline in legal cannabis prices.

“This is a case where what is going up should be going down, and what’s going down needs to be going back up.” States Rio Dell Mayor Debra Garnes. “It’s upside down. The State needs to correct this. The State needs to respond. They are by far taking the lion’s share of cannabis tax receipts and they risk killing the concept of the small legal cannabis farmer. That’s not good for anyone in Humboldt.”

The Council’s Resolution resulted from the request of Margro Advisors, a cannabis consulting firm that has invested in the City.

California voters passed cannabis legalization via Proposition 64 on November 8, 2016. Over the subsequent years, the City of Rio Dell worked hard to develop a comprehensive framework to allow the newly legal industry to invest in the community, including cultivation.

“I think locally we’ve done a good job of turning this newly legal industry into something that benefits Rio Dell as a whole.” Stated Rio Dell City Manager Kyle Knopp. “We’ve been able to pave roads and invest in public safety, in good part because of cannabis legalization and how we’ve approached it. But the State’s taxation system is now putting these local benefits at risk, perpetuating the black market and shutting down legal north coast cultivators.” Knopp concluded by underlining the disconnect between the January 1st cultivation tax increase and the State’s current record $30+ billion surplus.

Rio Dell City Manager Kyle Knopp, Bolivar Cortes, Daniel Whyte and Mayor Debra Garnes

Rio Dell City Manager Kyle Knopp, Bolivar Cortes, Daniel Whyte and Mayor Debra Garnes.

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Ally
Guest
Ally
2 years ago

Thank you for speaking up!

grey fox
Member
2 years ago

Good..this it how it starts. One community speaks up then 2 then 3. Soon it becomes a shout and that’s what the state needs to hear.

Janice
Guest
Janice
2 years ago

How much of that product is being diverted. There’s should be a METRC audit on the facility and the politicians associate should be charged as co-conspirators for the front business.

Klem knows no boundaries.
Guest
Klem knows no boundaries.
2 years ago
Reply to  Janice

Let’s stick to the subject of municipalities coming to the aid of farmers. Don’t digress and find yourself loosing the point here.
As stated above by GF the ball has been pushed. Let’s keep it rolling.

Trashman
Guest
Trashman
2 years ago
Reply to  Janice

Hoodrats love the new price point, better than cigarettes.

mlr the giant squirrel in Eureka
Guest
mlr the giant squirrel in Eureka
2 years ago
Reply to  Janice

Anyone diverting to the black market under guise of a legal license should be given twice the sentence of a pure black marketer.

Last edited 2 years ago
mlr the giant squirrel in Eureka
Guest
mlr the giant squirrel in Eureka
2 years ago

Voters approved legalization with exactly the current tax structure. It should only be changed by a vote of the people. Anyone that’s failing in the legal environment should do just that – fail and leave the market to more efficient producers.

Last edited 2 years ago
Farce
Guest
Farce
2 years ago

Oh yeah- that’s a real mom n pop scene there (snicker)! Look- the tax isn’t the thing killing the small operators, it’s the overgrown supply. Most permitted scenes are already selling black market so that’s not the problem either. Lower the taxes and the biggest most mega-operations still have the advantage and will still crush the little permitted farms. The problem is…you got permits! Face it- you will be assimilated….this “tax revolt” is going nowhere and even if you get the state to grant you the shaving off of a few bucks it is an empty victory. The state wants mega-farms and big corporate owners…like Greasy Gavin’s friends he convinced to get involved. Very rich people who invest and make lots of money that used to be your money. Your tiny protest will not change that…maybe expand your revolt into a class war oh except most permitted scenes are wealthy people okay never mind I’m out of suggestions!

grey fox
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

There is a niche for the small grower if given a fair chance. Look how local breweries took off. They competed against the real big boys and did very good. Good customer product will compete. Build up a loyal base

Country Joe
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  grey fox

I do just fine…

Farce
Guest
Farce
2 years ago
Reply to  grey fox

I agree. Indeed I believe that we are realizing that “small is beautiful”. But if you came here to blow up big scenes w/o an established market then you are in trouble. If you are small and have a good product for your old friends/ customer base then you are gonna survive- just as long as you can live humbly w/ little overhead. But that’s all that many of us wanted to do in the first place! The luxury is being able to live here, work for yourself, breathe clean air and sometimes go the river or jump in the ocean. That’s a good life!

Farmer
Guest
Farmer
2 years ago
Reply to  grey fox

Local brewers can sell their products to customers. Cannabis farms can’t

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago
Reply to  Farmer

State needs regs to allow the sale of flower out of jars, like in the pre-regulation retail days or as other states do. Similar to growler sales at local breweries. This will allow people to smell and view each purchase, thus opening the door to more vendors. I used to have a spot on the shelf of a few retailers. Good stuff.

Mendocino Mamma
Guest
Mendocino Mamma
2 years ago
Reply to  grey fox

There is a beer shortage currently due to grain shortages!

thatguyinarcata
Guest
thatguyinarcata
2 years ago

Where are you seeing that?

Huh?
Guest
Huh?
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

If the cultivation tax would have been eliminated over the summer, I would have another $31,000 in the bank. That would actually make a big difference for me, I’m pretty much breaking even for the year at this point.
I’m going to have about 30k less in fees and input costs next year, but I expect the prices to fall even more so I will probably break even next year too.
At least it pays all the bills.

Janice
Guest
Janice
2 years ago
Reply to  Huh?

I call bullshit. Please provide evidence that you’re personally submitting cultivation tax to the CDTFA under your business entity. You can’t because you’re not. Like 99% of the cultivators in the emerald triangle. You’re most likely wholesaling 20% or less of your total product to a burner distribution company that probably doesn’t even provide you with a purchase order. Even if they do, you sure in the hell don’t supply them with an invoice. The remaining 80% of your weed your selling on the black market. You’re full of shit like 99% of the dopers. Prove me wrong. Provide a tax remission recipe and all of your transactional invoices. Also, let’s dive deeper… What is the size of your cultivation and how does that production ability contrast towards your hypothetical $30k in cultivation taxes that are crippling your ability to operate… $30k in cultivation tax is 194 lbs of wholesale product… How many square feet do you have under license? Riddle me this one doper.

Last edited 2 years ago
Don’t go legal
Guest
Don’t go legal
2 years ago
Reply to  Janice

Two runs on a 10k farm generally nets us approximately 800lbs for the year . Although all the tax cuts in the world aren’t going to help the overprotection !

Janice
Guest
Janice
2 years ago

Did you submit your $123.2k in cultivation taxes to the CDTFA?

Don’t go legal
Guest
Don’t go legal
2 years ago
Reply to  Janice

The Distros submit that . It comes out of our per lb price . So yes, it was paid . Although we lost money this year!

Don’t go legal
Guest
Don’t go legal
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

Have to agree with you on a point here, Farce . I’m a legal farmer, and while yes reducing the taxes would be of an assistance, the fact of the matter is that WAY to much cannabis has been grown . That’s it, bottom line. Farms are growing huge quantities, year round! Our local Distros are literally overwhelmed with a plethora of product that they can’t sell . And more farms are scheduled to be legalized as we speak. Until that changes, all the tax reductions in the world won’t help .

Me 2
Guest
Me 2
2 years ago

Would interstate commerce make a difference (aka national legalization)?
Or would the problem just increase in scale with Kansas coverting wheat and corn fields to cannabis?
Remember when governor Nuisance was reported in the paper to have told Garberville he’d keep grow sizes to an acre statewide? Did that really happen or aM I dreaming?
If that were the National policy, we could go back to pot being a supplement that anyone can utilize while keeping the supply low enough that the price stays ok.

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago
Reply to  Me 2

Kansas farms would produce product for manufacturing. No one in emerald triangle could compete with them. Only hope is super high quality at a fair price. Gotta keep the overhead down.

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago

The Distros are being overwhelmed with mid to low grade. I also understand no one wants outdoor. Grow high grade and there is still a market. The best indoor grown under FS LEDs is not gonna be beaten by mixed light. No way, the visual quality is unbelievable.

Don’t go legal
Guest
Don’t go legal
2 years ago
Reply to  Hayforker

Agreed! Word is if you have Triple A , you can still get a pretty good price !

Jim’s Guest is Someone Else’s Depository
Guest
Jim’s Guest is Someone Else’s Depository
2 years ago

Hmmm… amazing how municipalities got addicted to that extra revenue…

Connie DobbsD
Member
Connie Dobbs
2 years ago

The money stays up here, which is nice.

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago

Money, possibly the most addictive substance on earth!

TwoToedTom
Guest
TwoToedTom
2 years ago

Why don’t they give a tax break to the actual working class people who bust their a$$ everyday trying to survive??? Who gives a cr@p about these fake “farmers”, not I!

Me 2
Guest
Me 2
2 years ago
Reply to  TwoToedTom

Idk, seems to me they’re just working a business like anyone else.
All business owners should want them to not get overtaxed. Because once that’s well established, then they look over the fence at you, and say “well he’s not getting over taxed as much as me.”
Better to achieve fairness by lowering theirs than raising mine.

Ricky
Guest
Ricky
2 years ago
Reply to  TwoToedTom

I don’t know what you mean about fake farmers. Yea maybe the owners are mostly all rich fucks but you better believe that those of us who work the fucking fields are farmers and are hurting incredibly bad this year. The workers don’t own farms and are just trying to make enough money to get. Stop being a hater and understand everyone’s just trying to make it.

Alf
Guest
Alf
2 years ago

There should be an extra tax added to pay for the extra medical expenses of those whose health is being greatly screwed up by all the inconsiderate potheads who constantly blow their toxic smoke. I say bankrupt as many growers as possible, arrest and give stiff fines to anyone smoking this crap in a public place and definitely confiscate any pot these individuals have in their possession. If you want to use it, go do so far away from those who don’t.

thatguyinarcata
Guest
thatguyinarcata
2 years ago
Reply to  Alf

Who’s health is being damaged by second hand Marijuana smoke?

Alf
Guest
Alf
2 years ago

Anyone who is near enough to have to inhale it. Only ignorant potheads are growers seem to ask that question, just like tobacco growers and smokers used to ask the same question. Forcing your poison on those around you is the most inconsiderate act any human can do to another.

thetallone
Guest
thetallone
2 years ago
Reply to  Alf

I don’t know where you hang out, but I haven’t noticed that was a problem. I agree, though, smokers should not subject others to second-hand smoke.

thatguyinarcata
Guest
thatguyinarcata
2 years ago
Reply to  Alf

Again, can you point me to any instances of a person’s health being damaged by second hand cannabis smoke? With tobacco, there is an established link to cancer. That doesn’t exist with cannabis. So if you’ve got some studies that indicate some other health risk please share them

Alf
Guest
Alf
2 years ago

No study will make a difference to someone who is a producer or a consumer of pot. I’ve shared studies before and potheads won’t accept them. It’s kind of like everyone knows heroin, cocaine, etc. are all harmful, yet they are still being manufactured and consumed by people who don’t care about others. Your product is all bad, yet you ignore the truth. I have been harmed a great deal by pot smokers because I have extreme allergies to it above and beyond the other harmful substances in it’s smoke. I’m not a “study” but I am a victim of this crap.

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago

He certainly is being affected by something, probably not second hand ganja smoke, but something for sure.

Guest
Guest
Guest
2 years ago
Reply to  Alf

Do you drive a diesel, Alf?

$5000 a pound back in the day!
Guest
$5000 a pound back in the day!
2 years ago

Man, that’s some chunky ass bud! Looks like Girl Scout Cookie phenotype. Anyone know what strain that is in the greenhouse photos? Personally I really like this setup. This is a great way to grow A+ weed using natural light and no soil. Hydro is definitely a great way to go in the current cannabis market. Indoor sells and besides these buds being a bit too chunky for the average indoor grown flower I’m sure they can get indoor type prices at the dispensary. Kudos to Rio Dell, this farmer and cannabis that actually looks like it can compete in the current market. I’ve grown cannabis using almost every method you can think of. That’s part of the fun! Experimenting. Trying new techniques. This hydro set up actually produces very high yields per square foot. I love organic grown weed in soil for my headstash, but if I was going to grow commercially in this current market environment this is a similar type of setup I would use. It’s super clean and fully automated. You could easily get 5 harvests a year in these greenhouses with this setup if you used the right strains…..

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago

You gotta try the full spectrum led lights. It’s next level crazy. Blows away the best mixed light on visuals and terps (which is how retail sales works). The low heat environment is winning.

$5000 a pound back in the day!
Guest
$5000 a pound back in the day!
2 years ago

Damn….that sh!t looks beautiful to me!!
This is a MONEY 💰 MAKING setup my friends. Take note 📝 if you want to really make money 💰 and grow year round you got to take a closer look at growing hydroponically in greenhouses. Humboldt needs to compete with the rest of the state and growing fields of outdoor ain’t gonna cut it. Step up your game 🎮! Get more sophisticated. Fully automated systems reduce expenses after your initial investment. Less farm hands means more profit for you. Instead of 1 or 2 harvests a year why not get 4 or 5 of high quality bud you can actually sell! (Had to make another post after looking at the photos again. I know how tight this scene is. It has MONEY 💰 written all over it!) Also you don’t have to buy soil! No truck loads of dirt, turning dirt, moving dirt, paying people to work with dirt. You save a SHITLOAD of money growing hydroponically. Plus it really conserves water! You can grow hydro organically…..

Uh...asking for a friend
Guest
Uh...asking for a friend
2 years ago

Don’t agree with the cheer leading.
That looks like the problem. Over capitalized, debt to service, filled with the only commodity tracking opposite the CPI.
Expensive. All that technology is to recreate a SoHum summer! Read Teaming with Microbes. Good soil is the only factory you need. Problem is: it’s harder to service that debt without a few artificial seasons.

thetallone
Guest
thetallone
2 years ago

Fer sure, all that plastic and technocrap will be abandoned junk when the farmers in Oklahoma get through with you.
They should have mandated sun-grown only when they passed the laws.

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago

I wish good soil was all you needed. Works on a small, very small scale for dried flowers only. Reducing expenses and repeatability of quality is how a business survives. Good soil in a GH is too inefficient. I would know as I tried but failed.

Smallfry
Guest
Smallfry
2 years ago

I am all for nice ganja greenhouses.. but.. these are not it. It’s very difficult to grow cannabis like that organically, and commercial enterprises will surely not take much effort. Any greenhouse like that, is surely to use nasty mite pesticides, and fungicides, not to mention the high phosphate ferts that are laden with heavy metals, radiation with a healthy dose of PGR’s.. YUCK weed!

Not only that, the fertilizer run off is incredibly toxic as it is concentrated with nitrates and phosphates that are extensively polluting.

Is it REALLY any wonder that Cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), which causes frequent, severe nausea and vomiting, is steeply on the rise?

There are a ton of greenhouse grows WAY more efficient closer to populations. This model is another fail for Humboldt. No matter what the tax bracket is.

Lungs matter people.

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago
Reply to  Smallfry

You’re wrong about the miticides, PGRs and nutrients. There is a model where hydro meets organic standards and grows so fast it avoids the need for much pesticides. Don’t forget the COA takes care of many of the issues you describe.

Uh...asking for a friend
Guest
Uh...asking for a friend
2 years ago

This state tax is collected from distribution right? Cultivators pay a set rate to the state based on size right? That is different than the county excise tax. What am I missing here? I’ve not been paying the state based on sales, as a cultivator. I feel like (and wondering wtf..) that I’ve been paying the county more than the state each year with a cultivation permit…by a factor of 2 almost. Does this only apply to those with an additional distribution license selling their own packaged product to retail?

Jay Beigh
Guest
Jay Beigh
2 years ago

// “This state tax is collected from distribution right?”//

Distributor who handles the product from cultivator is required to collect the State cultivation tax from the cultivator and remit to the State.

Cultivators pay a licence fee to the state (based on canopy size or gross sales depending on the license type), PLUS the cultivation tax based on lbs/production.

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago
Reply to  Jay Beigh

Yes! Spot on.

Uh...asking for a friend
Guest
Uh...asking for a friend
2 years ago

Still asking! To clarify..
I can go dig up receipts, but pretty sure I’m paying $1.00/SQ. Ft, adjusted to the CPI each year to HUMBOLDT COUNTY, just under 10,000sq.ft., so over $10k. I have been paying one fee or whatever to the STATE annually, of around half that or $5,000. I am allowed to wholesale to a distributor. My understanding is they pay sales taxes, and some other fees, I don’t need to worry about. I fill out an annual form to the California Dept. Of Tax and Fees Administration, CDTFA, but my Sales Tax obligations zero out because I’m not selling it to retail. Then if course there are several “nickle and dime” charges in the several hundred dollar range to CDFW, Water Board, County Staff time, the what- if- we -have -to destroy -your- weed bond, etc.

So question is, does this proposed tax relief go to those engaged in distribution, and not wholesalers? Does this affect those more limited (and perhaps not-so-well capitalized) smaller farms? Petitions are circulating amoung growers, but I’m not sure the State tax is my problem. Please explain!

Jay Beigh
Guest
Jay Beigh
2 years ago

// “So question is, does this proposed tax relief go to those engaged in distribution, and not wholesalers?”//

Distributors are also “wholesalers”, so I’m not exactly sure what your question is, but …

The proposed tax relief is specifically related to the ~$160/lb *State cultivation tax* which must be paid by the cultivator to the state through the distributor.

Don’t go legal
Guest
Don’t go legal
2 years ago

As Jay Beigh stated , the cultivator is ultimately responsible for the 155 lb cultivation tax . The distros pay that generally for you, inclusive of what you are paid per lb. So if they eliminated this tax , theoretically we the farmer, should receive 155 more per lb . But who’s to say that the distros are even going to play nice ? They could end up still paying us same price per lb and giving themselves a raise 🤷‍♀️

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago

Oh you know DIstro won’t take a pay cut even if the cult tax is repealed. Look at asking for a friend’s questions. Sounds clueless or maybe they haven’t actually sold whiteside.

Don’t go legal
Guest
Don’t go legal
2 years ago
Reply to  Hayforker

Exactly Hayforker ! Is Sisu going to tell Ye Lil Farmer, Hey, I’m going to give you 600 a lb now due to the tax cuts? Hahaha, Hahaha!

Don’t go legal
Guest
Don’t go legal
2 years ago

The farmer pays approximately 155$ per lb to the state . For bigs or smalls ! You may not notice it, generally the distro will say that “ they” paid the tax on the invoice. So when you believe that your lb was sold for 500 an lb , it was actually sold for 655 a lb to pay the tax .You can actually loose $$$ on selling your smalls as well as your trim .

Last edited 2 years ago
Country Joe
Member
2 years ago

A huge thank you to the City of Rio Dell. Farmers are having a tough time…Let’s have our local legislators put it to a vote…

Perspective
Guest
Perspective
2 years ago

Taxes are not the main issue. In fact, not even close.

Smallfry
Guest
Smallfry
2 years ago

Actually, I disagree with the Major. I think that cannabis taxes need to be RAISED. That’s right. I said it.. BUT raised on LARGE cultivation operations. There needs to be some sort of more efficient sliding scale type tax model that encourages a healthy market. Right now there is a GLUT OF WEED. And the larger cultivators should be taxed to encouraged to scale back operations to bring the industry and market to a better healthier state.

That said, when the gov. Makes more per pound than a trimmer, who has to work extensively to make a the same $ per pound.. or less now.. the tax scheme IS WAY WAY out of line.

Oh well. The “Legal” market is a big charade anyway. And don’t worry “Permiteezz”..they will lower the taxes. Absolutely.. just after they knock Humboldt and smaller cultivators out of the game, when the industrial hedgfunded growers take over, THEN they will suddenly change the rules, and lower the taxes in their favor. Just watch..

Jay Beigh
Guest
Jay Beigh
2 years ago
Reply to  Smallfry

I completely agree and I’ve always felt this should extend to all corporate entities in general.

We have a progressive income tax and we should also have progressive corporate taxes. Unless there is an external balancing force applied to all business endeavours, large entities bulldoze small entities and this concentration of power never ends well for the consumer.

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago
Reply to  Jay Beigh

That progressive income tax is mainly applied to individual returns. Yes C corps have a progressive tax structure but that’s comparing apples to oranges.

Jay Beigh
Guest
Jay Beigh
2 years ago
Reply to  Hayforker

// “That progressive income tax is mainly applied to individual returns.”//

Correct, and as I stated I hold that adopting the same tax structure that is applied to individual returns would be a good choice on the corporate side.

Neither the current federal corporate tax rate (21%) nor the california rate (8.84) is progressive. I believe this should change.

Farce
Guest
Farce
2 years ago
Reply to  Smallfry

Agree! A progressive tax rate would help. Good luck fighting those corporate lobbyists who already control the Cannabis Control but that would be a worthy fight. I could even see regular people understanding it and joining your cause. And somewhere in there they might even start to understand why small producers are more important to all of us than the mega-corp grows…because at the root if you can’t convince the public to support small grows than we are all getting steamrolled

Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago
Reply to  Smallfry

Nice pipe dream. The big guys have lobbyists and they will see the law enforcement and general cannabis hating groups block the reforms until they have consolidated control. It’s a cycle played out in many other industries. Your wasting your precious remaining resources fighting for ideological dreams. Sorry for the harshness.

The Real Brian
Member
2 years ago

Times are really, really tough’: Plummeting cannabis prices strain small Northern California farmers

https://www.siliconvalley.com/2021/08/23/cannabis-farmers-barely-breaking-even-as-price-per-pound-plummets-2/

Cannabis prices continue to drop as fall harvest season threatens further saturation.

https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/cannabis-prices-continue-to-drop-as-fall-harvest-season-threatens-further-saturation/article_11f22f92-0b69-11ec-8b9e-ab6e4ae97ef0.amp.html

The economics of pot: Price of cannabis flower drops 50% from last year

https://www.theunion.com/news/the-economics-of-pot-price-of-cannabis-flower-drops-50-from-last-year/

Yes to JB on progressive taxing.

Likely the best route for everyone in the long run, even if most small farmers don’t make it.

Smallfry,

Trimmers have been overpaid by too many for too long, in my opinion.

How can people read the article below and not see not only trimmers but growers situations relating?

https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/the-dangers-of-paying-employees-too-much

Last edited 2 years ago
Hayforker
Guest
Hayforker
2 years ago
Reply to  The Real Brian

Great article from Indiana business. I see small farms best chances with fresh frozen and skip the trimming although. Hire under the table where you can.

Jay Beigh
Guest
Jay Beigh
2 years ago
Reply to  Hayforker

// “I see small farms best chances with fresh frozen and skip the trimming although.”//

That’s no chance at all.

The problem with the fresh frozen segment of the market is that it’s precisely where the central coast dirt farmers have planted their flags (and for the reason you describe — trimming labor). They can farm a hundred acres of extraction biomass for pennies on the dollar compared to a small farm.

The Real Brian
Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Jay Beigh

Jay,

I said years ago that likely 5% of pre 64 small farmers would survive the very hard transition.

Besides dreaming of unlikely changes, is that about how you see it?

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
2 years ago

No way state govt of California will do anything to help small business (eg: progressive tax rate for corporations). Big govt likes to deal with big business, big govt thinks dealing with small businesses is like herding cats.

Big business is focused on driving small businesses out of business and generally succeeds sooner or later. Lowering the price of a product thru over production is a tried and true method for big business to destroy small businesses down thru history and across many industries (including agriculture).

Don’t go legal
Guest
Don’t go legal
2 years ago

Reasons small farmers have been screwed : 1. Let’s start with our local “crooks” also known as Planning Dept and Supervisors. We began the process of permitting our farm shortly after legalization. It took the county three years and approximately 300k to permit my small farm on prime ag . So we had approximately one year of decent prices before the shitshow began . If we’d had that three years of income while awaiting the county’s endless requirements and $$$$ needed( always $$$$) we may have had the funds needed to withstand a couple bad years. 2. When we applied for legalization there was a one acre cap on all grows in California until 2023. Ya well, that didn’t last long . 3. Even if we choose to not grow a season, we are required to pay our yearly permit fees, which are approximately 30k yearly . We can’t even close our cannabis bank account which is 1k a month , unless we surrender our licenses . 4: TOO much legal cannabis has been grown with no out ! Bottom line! A tax moratorium will not help. We won’t ever even see it, the distros that we are forced to use will simply not pass on that change to us .

putaloca
Guest
putaloca
2 years ago

No other farmer pays a dime in taxes before any crop is sold, why would the state demand tax money of something that isn’t sold yet? Does Phillip morris pay taxes on tobacco that is still in the ground?
This is not just wrong but certainly unconstitutional