Humboldt County extends deadline to pay marijuana grower taxes

Humboldt County supervisors have prolonged the deadline for lots of of marijuana farmers to repay cultivation taxes enacted years in the past.

County growers confronted a March 31 deadline to eradicate all tax money owed associated to Measure S, a poll referendum accredited by voters in 2016, greater than a yr earlier than the launch of adult-use gross sales.

Supervisors pushed the looming deadline to April 4 for 210 license holders to make their first funds or face suspension, in response to the Commonplace Instances of Eureka.

For the lots of extra who’ve made some fee, their deadline was prolonged to Dec. 31, 2025.

No extra reduction

The county supervisors indicated at their March 25 assembly this would be the last extension, the newspaper reported.

Regardless of the extensions, lots of of Humboldt County farmers are nonetheless in jeopardy of dropping their enterprise licenses.

Greater than 75% of the county’s 1,000 or so cultivation allow holders carry some tax debt, MJBizDaily reported not too long ago, citing data obtained by a Public Information Act request from the Humboldt County Growers Alliance (HGCA).

The typical excellent tax debt is roughly $12,000, in response to county information and officers, though some owe greater than $150,000.

In all, cultivation allow holders owe the county greater than $17 million in taxes, primarily from 2017 to 2021.

Of the 765 listed account holders with cultivation licenses in Humboldt County, public data present 415 agreed to a fee plan, or roughly 54%.

“Cultivators should now take fast steps to handle their tax obligations or threat dropping their permits,” HCGA Govt Director Natalynne DeLapp warned in a memo despatched to members.

Addressing the tax debt

Within the letter, obtained by MJBizDaily, DeLapp inspired HCGA members to verify their tax data with the county treasurer and planning division due to “recognized discrepancies” between the companies in addition to unsubstantiated experiences of clerical errors and lacking data.

In response to mounting challenges that hindered small farm competitiveness, Humboldt County supervisors in November 2022 suspended the Measure S excise tax for 2 years and deferred associated funds and penalties two years prior.

For the previous yr, the excise tax was set at 10 cents per sq. foot for outside, 20 cents per sq. foot for mixed-light and 30 cents per sq. foot for indoor cultivation.

“Ready for the county to inform you will not be an answer – and ignorance will not be a protection,” DeLapp instructed HCGA members within the memo.

“Be proactive. Know your standing. Handle it now.”

The March 25 assembly, in response to DeLapp and others in attendance, was tense and emotional as greater than two dozen farmers and residents shared their private tales and financial challenges of working in a depressed market with declining lively licenses and complete gross sales in addition to worth contraction and lack of retail entry.