Don’t cut cannabis taxes

It’s widely understood that the Board of Supervisors and Santa Rosa City Council are pro-cannabis. However, the latest push by marijuana operators to eliminate and/or decrease their business taxes is out of bounds. And the fact that the supervisors wasted no time in placing it on their meeting schedule says they prioritize the demands of a controversial industry over the good of the citizens of this county.

The Economic Policy Institute says Sonoma County is among the pricier places to live in California. The group estimates that a family of two adults and two children in Sonoma County would need to earn a combined income of $9,165 a month to live comfortably. In 2021, the consumer price index rose 4.2%, food prices have increased 6.3%, energy costs are up 28.2% and housing jumped 4.1% in the Bay Area.

The inflation rate is 7%.

With these figures in mind, it is unconscionable that any member of the Board of Supervisors is even contemplating granting this request of the cannabis industry to pay less taxes. It strains credulity that any business would plead for help, asking for tax breaks, simply because their business plan did not pan out and their profits were affected.

— Mayme Follett, Santa Rosa