On the morning of Tuesday December 9, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors extended a deadline for past due Measure S taxes, while agreeing to revoke permits for some cannabis cultivators in the coming months.
The cannabis cultivation tax proposal approved on Tuesday 4-1, with Supervisor Steve Madrone dissenting, will require farmers to pay 25% of their owed taxes over the next four years starting in 2026, to avoid permit suspension. But those who haven't entered a payment plan with the county will see their permits suspended and then revoked in groups, with notifications set to begin in January.
The board was discussing a previously set Dec. 31, 2025, deadline for the taxes, of which about $8.9 million is owed to the county, according to Planning and Building Director John Ford. The board previously directed the department to suspend and revoke permits if the full balance was not paid by the end of the month. But doing so would be a blow to hundreds of cultivators.
"We're talking about a little over half of the existing permitted farms in Humboldt County," who owe the tax, said Ford, totaling 518 permits. He pointed to comments from farmers who detailed why they couldn't pay the full amount in the next three weeks.
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