Pot tax in June? Harvey says no

With the possibility of a Special Election in June if Governor Jerry Brown gets his way, The Sheet began to wonder if it would be an appropriate venue for the pot tax on the newly-formed Mammoth medical marijuana co-operatives that the Mammoth Town Council briefly discussed last month.

Mayor Skip Harvey, who had initiated the Council discussion, says no.

“The cost to the Town of Mammoth Lakes is determined by the number of ballot items,” Harvey explained. “Adding one item to a small ballot would be costly and would not balance what we would receive from the tax [if approved].”

As a reference point, Harvey said the June 2010 election, which included Council elections, Measure M and more, in addition to all the State measures and elections, cost the Town about $17,000.

Plus, Harvey was swayed by his fellow Council members during the previous discussion on the pot tax when they said that the Town should give the two co-ops more time to get their bearings before trying to tax them. Mammoth Wellness opened its doors in November 2010 and Green Mammoth followed shortly after in December.

Harvey also hopes to discuss specifics uses for the potential tax dollars collected before putting together the official measure.

“I would like to see the money collected go toward the School Resource Officer and some specific drug awareness programs,” Harvey said. He added that he would be looking into whether or not a potential tax approved in 2012 could be used to backfill some of these services from 2011.