City Council Minutes 2013 07 16 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes July 2, 2013 Page 23 of 25 Deputy City Manager Balser asked Council if there is a desire to look at an additional sales tax and excise tax for the November 2013 ballot. This would require an:' emergency ordinance to set the ballot by September 6, 2013. Mayor Pro Tem Dalton stated a retail marijuana establishment would obtain a business license and collect sales tax. The state would also collect a sales and excise tax and share it with the City. City Attorney Light concurred. Mayor Pro Tem Dalton did not see a reason for an additional local sales and excise tax on retail marijuana. Council member Loo stated raising the tax would drive the purchase of marijuana to the black market. The only reason to collect another sales and /or excise tax on cultivation and manufacturing would be to cover the City's cost for services. She asked for an analysis of the impact on City services. City Manager Fleming stated his understanding the City of Boulder's proposal includes flexibility to adjust the tax assessment. Deputy City Manager Balser explained medical marijuana business can convert to retail by October of 2014, but retail marijuana businesses cannot be established until January of 2015. She asked if Council wanted to proceed with a sales tax ballot question for the November 2013 election. Mayor Muckle was not comfortable with crafting ballot language at this time. Council member Loo suggested acquiring the City Board's, such as the Local Licensing Authority recommendations. She sensed at this time everything is so vague, it may be a total waste of staff time. SUMMARY: Council supported the Local Licensing Authority issuing licenses for retail marijuana. There was discussion about caps on the number of licenses, which could be accomplished by imposing zoning and distance restrictions. There was support for both medical and retail marijuana in the same location, which would require separate entrances and points of sale. There was concern relative to cultivation operations but there was some interest in allowing testing facilities and possible manufacturing. There was no objection to changes in location or transfer of licenses for either retail or medical marijuana. Deputy City Manager Balser thanked Council for their direction. She felt there was enough direction for staff to craft regulations. PUBLIC COMMENTS Christian Sederberg, Attorney at Law, Vicente Sederberg, LLC, Denver, CO stated he is one of the proponents of Amendment 64 and his law partner drafted the ballot language. They stated they have worked on this issue for over three years so he thanked Council for their thoughtful discussion. He stated tomorrow is the first hearing