Arroyo Grande could soon see a cannabis tax if the current polling numbers stay the same, but it doesn’t guarantee cannabis be sold in the city.
Arroyo Grande voters appear ready to make the city one of the last in San Luis Obispo County to adopt a cannabis tax. As of Friday, County election results showed more than 65% of voters supporting Measure C-26, which would establish a 10% cannabis tax in Arroyo Grande.
Glenn Essen is one of the voters who supported the measure.
“We felt that it was just setting the table for what is already in place, pretty much county wide," Essen said. "To my understanding, Grover Beach already has that implemented and that's kind of where we went with that.”
The passing would mean Pismo Beach is the only city without a cannabis tax in the county.
Voters like Allan Mainous said it's about time Arroyo Grande caught up with the rest of the county, while others say the city might not be ready for this kind of change.
“It's a moneymaker, I think," Mainous said.
All of the money from the tax will go directly to the city’s general fund to help pay for city services, programs and infrastructure.
“I think it's probably needed," Mainous said. "I noticed just that this last couple of days, the streets are kind of like falling apart.“
However, the passing of Measure C-26 does not guarantee cannabis will be sold in the city.
This yes vote would only open the door for the city council to approve cannabis businesses in Arroyo Grande now that a tax structure is set up.
City Manager Matthew Downing said there are still plenty of ballots left to count before anything is finalized.
“Internally we'll take a look at that, make sure that it actually passed," Downing said. "Then, we're planning sometime in January, sometime in the new year when the new council is set to take this back to them and kind of get their direction on the next steps.”
“When that time does come, the city is going to have a say on it and the community is going to have a say in it," Essen said. "So I think it'll all play out fine.”
