The cannabis industry across the state and in Monterey County is experiencing some growing pains that are resulting in shrinking value. During the pandemic summer of 2020, the cannabis market was riding high, reaching roughly $1,200 per pound according to local market insiders. However, as the summer of 2021 closed, the price per pound had dropped to as low as $400.
Cannabis growers organized and pressed the government officials for relief, as they were greatly harmed by this sharp decrease. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors responded to this market change with tax relief. After freezing an automatic tax increase on growers scheduled for 2021-22, the supervisors voted on October 26th to increase the number of times growers could amend the taxable square footage of their crop canopy from once to twice per year.
This measure was supported by the cannabis industry for different reasons. First, let’s say a grower had some emergency maintenance they had to perform and needed to shut down a portion of their crop canopy. To avoid being taxed for their entire canopy area when only some of it is producing cannabis, they alert the county of the change. In the past, since they were only allowed one amendment per year, they would have to wait an entire year before they could activate their entire crop canopy again.
Another reason for the support is illustrated in the next example. "A grower who submits their crop area as 1,000 square feet can decrease their square footage for the fall harvest when the market is more saturated, and then turn around and increase the square footage come spring when hopes for a strong market are typically higher," says Bob Roach, executive director of the Monterey County Cannabis Industry Association.
Read the complete article at montereycountyweekly.com.
