Cook County Board proposes 3% pot tax

The Cook County Board of Commissioners Thursday proposed a 3% tax on cannabis retailers as they prepare for the drug to be legal statewide Jan. 1.

The county’s proposed Cannabis Retailers’ Occupation Tax would be imposed on “all persons engaged in the business of selling cannabis,” but wouldn’t apply to medical cannabis dispensaries.

That 3% would be in addition to the city’s 3% tax and state taxes of up to 25%. The 3% percent figure is the highest the county can tax, according to state law.

The proposed tax, which was passed on to the Finance Committee, likely won’t be voted on until next month, but the county won’t be able to start collecting revenue from the drug until July.

“We didn’t budget any money in this year’s budget for marijuana taxes because we knew that there would be some time at the state level to put together the rules and [regulations] and roll this out and wanted to give ourselves time as well to try to get this right,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said.

The county isn’t expecting much revenue next year from the tax — projections currently show less than $1 million, said Ammar Rizki, the county’s chief financial officer. That money will likely go to the county’s health care and criminal justice sectors, which make up a majority of the budget.

Along with the proposed pot tax, commissioners Thursday introduced ordinances for a cannabis commission and a zoning ordinance for pot-related retailers in unincorporated Cook. Those ordinances will go to the Legislation and Zoning committees, respectively.

Commissioner Bill Lowry, D-Chicago, who introduced the ordinance that would create the commission said he wants to “quarterback” the intergovernmental work that will need to take place between the county and the state and the city.

“I look at this as a very large new industry and it’s going to create a cottage industry for a lot of different types of businesses,” Lowry said. “So as we go forward, one of the things I want to make sure we’re doing as a commission is … make sure that the social equity piece is being considered and find ways to activate that.”